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INTRODUCTION. 



The name Costa Rica, to even the European or American 
possessing a certain degree of culture, suggests ordinarily but 
the vaguest idea of a little republic situated somewhere on 
the American continent and producing — if indeed this much 
be known — a coffee which is quoted rather high on the 
market. Geographies and encyclopedias give at most the 
name of the capital of the country and an estimate, often 
erroneous, of the number of inhabitants. As for special 
works, these are few and so thickly covered with dust on the 
library shelves that few persons are able to consult them. 
Many of these works, besides, were written a good many 
years ago and supply information wholly insufficient at the 
present day. ^ 

Costa Rica, however, deserves to be known. The prevail- 
ing idea in Europe and America as to the Central American 
republics is that they are sunk in a state of somnolence and 
inertia, from which nothing can come for a long time yet. 
They are also represented as the scene of incessant interior 
wars, and one imagines them as constantly suffering from 
instability of government and insecurity in general. Noth- 
ing is falser than these suppositions, based on a complete 
ignorance of the facts. "A perusal of the study which we 
here present to the public will give — we are pleased to 
believe — a juster idea of Costa Rica. 

For several years all has been life and progress ; the for- 
ward march goes on day by day in a remarkable fashion, 
and this little country has arrived at a state of culture and 
civilization that many larger nations might well envy it. 

(Ill) 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

It is now, especially, when tlio hour has come for crowded 
European and American cities to overflow the world and 
when emigration has become a social necessity, that former 
prejudices should be dissipated. It is but fulfilling a duty 
to make known in all justice a country worthy of the atten- 
tion of persons who may seriously consider the matter of 
seeking a new home for themselves. 

AVe have not sought to offer an untruthful panegyric ; we 
do not present Costa Rica as an El Dorado or promised land 
we give but a brief resume containing the most important 
elements of an estimate. A residence of several j^ears in the 
land we depict, the collaboration of persons worthy of all con- 
fidence, the pains we have taken to provide ourselves with 
the latest and most accurate information, the figures or the 
terms of comparison that we constantly present, will produce, 
we hope, in the mind of the reader the conviction that our 
work, although forcedly incomplete, is indeed the expression 
of the truth. 

Paul Biolley. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Chapter I.— THE COUNTllY. 

1. Topography 1 

2. Orography 3 

3. Hydrography .8 

4. Climatology 11 

5. Natural Products 15 

6. Ways ■ 21 

7. Post Offices and Telegraph 23 

8. Interoceanic Canals ........ 24 

Chapter II.— THE INHABITANTS. 

1. Origin and Customs ........ 26 

2. Towns and Villages 30 

3. Government .......... 34 

4. Public Life . . . • 38 

5. Public Instruction .......•• 40 

6. Foreigners .......■•• 42 

Chapter III.— LANDS AND CULTUKES. 

L Lands 45 

2. Principal Cultures • 48 

3. Special Cultures 53 

4. New Cultures ......... 57 

5 Natural Forest and Agricultural Wealth . . . .59 

Chapter IV.— INDUSTKIES. 

,1.- Agricultural Industry ....... 64 

2. Coffee Benefitting and Sugar Mills . . . . .69 

3. Miscellaneous Industries 72 

4. Monopolies .......... 75 

Chapter V.— COMMERCE AND FINANCES. 

1. Exportation and Importation 77 

2. Financial Situation 80 

3. Interior and Exterior Debt. 83 

4. Moneys, Weights, and Measures ...... 87 

Chapter VI.— THE FUTURE 88 



COSTA RICA. 



CHAPTER I, 



THE COUNTRY. 

1. Topography.— The Republic of Costa Rica is situated 
in Central America, between Colombia and Nicaragua, be- 
tween the parallels of 9° and 11° north latitude. The 10° 
parallel passes through Limon and a little to the north of 
Puntarenas, the two principal ports of the country — one on 
the Atlantic, the other on the Pacific — and crosses the cen- 
tral plateau region, where centers the mass of the popula- 
tion. 

On the Nicaragua side the River San Juan and the shore 
of the Lake of Granada as far as the River Sapod, indicate 
in a general way the confines of the country. However, by 
virtue nf the treaty of 1858, Nicaragua has a right, on the 
right-hand shore of river and lake, to a strip of earth a lit- 
tle more than three kilometres (1.86-1- mile) in width from 
the mouth of the Sapoa to a point three (English) miles be- 
low Castillo Viejo, an old fort on the San Juan. 

The validity of this treaty, long contested, has been defini- 

. tively established as the result of an arbitral decision of the 

President of the United States. To the west, from the Sapoa 

river to the Pacific, the demarcation is indicated by a straight 

line terminating in the center of the Bay of Salinas. 

On the south the question of limits is not yet fully settled. 
Colombia refuses to admit as definitive the provisional line 
starting from Punta Burica, on the Pacific, and terminating 
in the island called Escudo de Veragua, in the Atlantic, and 
lays claim to a portion of territory which Costa Rica has al- 
ways considered as her own. The late King of Spain, Al- 
fonso Xn, as arbitrator, was to have decided the ques- 

(1) 



2 POST A KI( A. 

tion. His death preveiitod the i)roiiouncing of a decision, 
and adJiuc sub judice lis est. There is, nevertheless, good 
reason to believe that Costa Rica will be recognized as right- 
ful possessor of the disputed lands. The obviousness of her 
rights has been admirably demonstrated by the important 
publications of her minister in Europe, Don Manuel M. de 
Peralta.* 

The coasts on the Atlantic are united and of coral forma- 
tion ; those on the Pacific, on the other hand, are cut up and 
sandy. The extent of the former may be estimated at 280 
kilometres (112 miles); that of the latter at more than twice 
as many. 

The principal peninsulas, all on the Pacific, are those of 
the Golfo Dulce and of Nicoya, separated by the gidfs, hav- 
ing the same names, from the mainland. The Gulf of 
Nicoya, the best known, is full of islands. That of Chira, 
rather important as to extent, and that of San Lucas, which 
serves as a place of deportation, deserve especial mention. 
The little Isle of Coco, situated 180 miles from land, has for 
some time past been similarly occupied. Formerly it served 
as a place of refuge for the famous buccaneers. 

The Atlantic coast does not form any peninsulas proper, 
and has but one little island, that of Uvita, opposite Port 
Limon. 

The area of the country is 51,760 square kilometres (20,704 
square miles f) — that is to say, equal to twice that of the 
peninsula of Jutland and greater by one-fifth than that of 
Switzerland. Let us say at once that Costa Rica has hardly 
more than 200,000 population, which gives an almost exact 

* Don Manuel M. de Peralta. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, y Panamden el siglo 
XVI. Paris, Ferrer, 1883. Costa Rica y Colombia de 1573 a 1881. Paris, 
Leroux, 1886. Consult also volumes IV and V of Documentos para la His- 
to7-ia de Costa Rica. Paris, Dapont, 188G ; published by Don Leon Fernan- 
dez ; and, for the question of arbitration between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, 
the Report and Replj' to the Allegations of Nicaragua, presented by Don 
Pedro Perez Zeledon to the President of the United States. 

•fLux. Geographischer Handweiser. One sometimes finds 59,570 square 
kilometres given, but nothing would appear to justify this overestimate. 



THE COUNTRY. 6 

proportion of four inhabitants to the square kilometre (or 
2| to the square mile). 

2. Orography. — The study of the mountains of Costa Rica 
is yet to be made in its entirety. Frantzius, Oersted, Hoff- 
mann, Seebach, Scherzer, and Wagner and Gabb have stud- 
ied some portions of the country, but their works do not 
suffice to present a clear idea of the Costa Rican orographic 
system. We are indebted to Prof. H. Pittier for most of the 
general points which are to follov^^.* It is evident at the 
start that one must reject the old conception of a single Cor- 
dillera extending throughout all of America, from Behring 
Strait to the farthest limits of Patagonia. It is proven, in- 
deed, that the mountains of Central America are of more 
recent formation than the chains of the two great continents. 
Without wishing to go too much into details, we will add 
that it appears equally natural to consider the mountain 
system which extends between the isthmuses of Brito and 
Panama, and to which belong the mountains of Costa Rica, 
as forming a distinct group in the ensemble of the Central 
American Cordilleras. 

The chains composing the Costa Rican group extend al- 
most from the Peak of Rovalo, situated a short distance from 
the Colombian frontier, to the mountains in the neighbor- 
hood of the Bay of Salinas and the Nicaraguan town of 
Rivas. 

They appear to be composed of volcanic or, at least, erup- 
tive masses, surrounded by sedimentary formations of greater 
or less height and development, according to the locality. 
Although the geology of the country is little known, the 
presence of sedimentary deposits is proven by the lime 
quarries and the fossils Vv^hich are discovered in various 
localities. 

The Costa Rican system may be divided into two distinct 
groups, separated by the valleys of the Reventazon and the 
Rio Grande. On the northwest side extends the volcanic 

* Bulletin of the Meteorological Institute, year 1888. 



4 CttSTA KKA. 

f 

Cordillera ; on the .southeast, an cu.seiu.hle ot" mountains which 
may be designated the cordillera of Talamanea. 

At a remote epoch an arm of the sea separated these two 
groups. The geological study of the valley of Reventazon 
and of the sub-stratum of the plateau cannot fail to conlirm 
one day this assertion. 

However it may be, it is certain that the most important 
chain is the volcanic cordillera. This chain, formed entirely 
of eruptive rocks, is divided in two great groups. The first 
begins at the northeast frontier and extends southeast almost 
in a direct line to terminate in the Monte de Aguacate, rich 
in gold mines. Its principal volcanic summits are Orosi, 
Rincon de la Vieja, Miravalles, and Tenorio, all more or less 
active volcanoes. Following come the Cerro de Tilaran 
mountain group, little known, and the porphyritic mass of 
the Monte de Aguacate, which closes the central plateau of 
the western side. The second group forms three massives : 
that of Poas, which comprises the volcano and the " cerros " 
of that name; that of Barba, separated from the preceding 
by the depression of Desengano ; then, a little to the south- 
east and beyond the deep cut of La Palma, that of Irazu, 
composed of two summits, Irazu and Turialba. 

All these volcanoes, with the exception of l^arba, which 
appears completely extinct, still present signs of activity. 
From time to time are witnessed — especially at the close and 
beginning of the rainy season — little eruptions, accompanied 
by movements of the earth of no great importance. The 
earthquakes have, nevertheless, though at rare intervals, 
caused disaster in the country. Among the more recent oc- 
currences may be cited the destruction of the cit}'- of Car- 
tago, at the foot of Irazu, in 1841. 

We ma}'' also say that a strong shock, resulting probably 
from the redoubled activity of Po^s and Irazu, caused se- 
rious damage over all the central plateau at the end of De- 
cember of the past year. 

Generally speaking, however, one may affirm that violent 
movements of the earth are rare in Costa Rica, and in no- 



THE COUNTKY. O 

wise recall the cataclysms which history has recorded of the 
Andean region of South America or of the northern part of 
Central America. 

The aspect of the volcanoes of Costa Rica is of the great- 
est magnificence. Seen from the plateau, which itself rises 
to a height of some 1,000 metres (3,000 feet), they appear 
as mountains of comparatively little elevation. They are 
cut-off domes, wooded, when a certain height is reached, to 
their summits. Nothing about them would lead one to sup- 
pose them volcanoes, were it not sometimes for the line of an 
old opening still visible on the mountain's top. The craters 
in actual activity are, as a general thing, on the north of the 
volcanic chain, and there are vapors far from light which 
rise at times from Turialba — smoky plumes which certain 
travelers have described in their love of the picturesque. 

The ascent of Irazu, the highest peak of the volcanic 
chain (3,414 metres, or 11,103 feet*), is a journey which any 
any one may easily make. From Cartago, which lies at the 
foot of the mountain, the horses arrive at the very brink of 
the volcano in six hours' time. 

When the weather is clear the beauty of the view amply 
compensates for the slight fatigue of the journey. 

One has at first before his eyes an immense rocky amphi- 
theatre over 3,000 feet in diameter. It is one of the old open- 
ings of the volcano. At the bottom of this first crater, over- 
run with water during a long period of calm, two others, 
smaller, have made their successive appearance. 

The oldest of these two funnels of recent formation is 
already filled with grass and bushes. The other still pre- 
sents three chimneys, two of which are partly filled up. 
The third, bu-t a short time since, was still exhaling sul- 
phurous vapors. To-day, however, it gives no sign of ac- 
tivity. 

From the peak of Irazu the traveler, after having admired 
the craters, gazes with delight on the far-distant most mag- 
nificent of panoramas. Turn whichever way he may, it is 

* Bulletin of the Meteorological Institute, year 1888. 



b COSTA RICA. 

an encliantmcnt of the eye born of the contenii»hUion of 
green hills where variety of cultivation places diilerent hues. 
of ravishing valleys, of rich plateau watered by rivers that 
wander at caprice, and finally of sombre masses of mighty 
mountains whose farthest summits die away in the intense 
azure of the heavens. When the atmosphere is very pure 
one can see both oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, half blent 
with the line of horizon. If the weather be foggy, the view 
is less smiling but of equal grandeur. At every gust of 
wind which sweeps the mists at frequent intervals, one has 
before him a sea of haze whose foamy waves beat against 
the dark sides of the mountains. 

One thing: It is better not to pass the niglit on tlie sum- 
mit of the volcano, for, at dawn, the thermometer sometimes 
falls to zero centigrade (32° F.) and lower. 

Irazu constantly gives signs of activity on the northern 
slope, where the ground is marked with fumaroles and 
where springs of boiling water rise. However, as it is diffi- 
cult to approach this region, the greater number of visitors 
go away from the volcano without a suspicion that the giant 
but slumbers, and that somewhere on his flanks, one may 
feel his powerful breathing. 

The Volcano of Turialba, near neighbor of Irazu and sit- 
uated a little to the northeast, has been for a long time con- 
sidered inaccessible. 

Von Seebach was the first scholar to arrive anywhere near 
the crater, in 18G4. Unfortunately, a violent eruption of 
smoke and stones prevented him from climbing the supe- 
rior cone. At the present day the ascent is made easily, 
thanks to a road that two great land proprietors have opened 
up the flanks of the mountain. Professor H. Pittier has 
thus been able to give a more exact description of it than 
any others published thus far, and to measure the altitude 
(3,358 metres,* about 10,980 feet). 

Barba (2,833 metres, or 9,061 feet) and Poas (2,611: metres, 
or 8,643 feet) are less easy of access, owing to the lack of 

* Bulletin of the Meteorological Institute, year 1888. 



THE COUNTRY. / 

roads. One arrives at their respective summits only by- 
carving himself a passage, with great blows of the machete, 
through the trees and bushes that form the undergrowth of 
the great forests. Contrary to what has been affirmed, one 
finds on the slopes of these volcanoes two coniferous species. 
On the summit of Poas there is a little lake whose blue 
waters sleep peacefully and bathe enchanting banks. It 
is an old crater. Quite near is seen another, at whose 
bottom muddy water strongly charged with sulphuric acid 
is constantly boiling. When the volcano is in one of its 
periods of great activity a dark-hued liquid column rises at 
moments from the sheet of water, accompanied by great 
ebullitions of vapor, then falls back heavily, while from the 
depths of the crater issue heavy and prolonged rumblings. 
The eruption of this geyser is one of the finest spectacles that 
one could contemplate, only the phenomenon does not al- 
ways reproduce itself with the same intensity. It was after 
the strong earthquake shock of last year that it was best 
witnessed, the water column having reached at that time a 
height of 230 feet. 

It would convey a mistaken idea of the mountains of 
which we have just spoken to represent them as completely 
wooded. The forests hardly begin before a height of 6,000 
feet has been reached, and even at this altitude potatoes and 
corn are cultivated. The government has recently taken 
measures against the cutting of timber on the slopes of the 
volcanic cordillera. This extensive tree-cutting would have 
changed in a short time the climacteric conditions of the 
most thickly inhabited part of the country. 

The smaller chains which skirt the central plateau on the 
south are known by the names of Cerro Turubales, Cerro 
Puriscail, and Cerro de la Candelaria. Farther east, in re- 
gions still uncultivated and almost deserted, are found the 
Cerro de las Cruces and the mountains of Dota, which turn 
southward and are continued in the cordillera of Talamanca. 

The lesser chain, set toward the east of the plateau, of the 
first groups which we have cited, are covered to their peaks 



8 COSTA IIICA. 

with plantations of maize, andare of mixed formation, partly 
eruptive, partly sedimentary. 

Porphyry is found on tlieir summits, but tlieir slopes are 
formed of calcareous rocks, wliicli are em})loyed to manu- 
facture lime. The mountains of Dota and of Talamanca, 
little explored, include some important peaks: La Laguna, 
the Cerro Chiripo, the Monte Lyon, the Ujum, the Pico 
Blanco or Kamuk (9,528 feet*), the Rovalo. None of these 
peaks should be considered as volcanic if one refer to Gabb, 
the principal explorer of this region. Doubt exists on the 
subject of the mountain of Dota, the center of which should 
be occupied by a crater lake, according to those who have 
made the ascent. This mountain, besides, seen from Irazu, 
presents the aspect of a volcanic peak. 

Costa Rica has been called the Switzerland of Central 
America, because of the picturesqueness of the mountains 
surrounding its plateau, especially those of the volcanic 
chain. 

It is Switzerland, if you like, but Jurassic Switzerland, for 
the Costa Rican landscapes have naught of the imposing 
and severe beauty of the Alpine regions. The mountains of 
Jura, with their flat and rounded summits, their sides wooded 
and covered with green pasturage, give a better idea. 

The usual temperature and the sub-tropical vegetation, 
however, differentiate the aspects to such a point that the 
comparison could not be exact. 

3. Hydrography. — The iiuvial system of Costa Rica com- 
prehends three slopes : the North slope, w^hose waters are re- 
ceived by the Lake of Granada and the San Juan, the Pa- 
cific, and the Atlantic slopes.f 

It is the w^ater-courses of the north slope that are of great- 

* I. W. Gabb. 

•j- The San Juan emptying into the Atlantic, it is clour that, properly- 
speaking, there exist but two slopes, those of the two oceans. We have 
only admitted a north slope because this permitted us to establish a clearer 
division of the Costa Rica water-wavs. 



THE COUNTKY. 9 

est importance as to volume of water and extent of basin. 
The navigation of these alone will come to present important 
advantages for commerce when the immense region which 
they cross shall have been improved. This region is, even 
to-day, almost unexplored. After having mentioned the 
Sapoa, of which we have spoken in connection with the sub- 
ject of frontiers, and the Rio Frio, which traverses the little- 
known country of the Guatuso Indians and empties into the 
Lake of Granada, at the very starting point of the San Juan, 
we shall distinguish on this northern slope three great ar- 
teries—the San Carlos, the Sarapiqui, and the Tortuguero 
or Colorado. 

The San Carlos empties into the San Juan about midway 
its course. It is navigable for two-thirds of its length for 
boats drawing little water. Its tw^o great affluents on the left, 
the Arenal and the Penas Blancas, are also navigable part of 
the way. ' These rivers would lend themselves to navigation 
much more easily' if care were taken to relieve them of the 
quantity of tree-trunks which obstruct them ; such as they 
are, they already render important services. Their banks are 
formed of exceptionally fertile soil, and the owners of plan- 
tations there always prefer the water-route to the longer way 
by land, which is almost impracticable during certain months 
of the year. Beside the affluents already cited the San 
Carlos receives on its right bank and in the upper part of 
its course the Rivers Peje, Platanar, San Rafael, Cooper, and, 
much lower down, the River Tres Amigos ; this last naviga- 
ble part way. 

The Sarapiqui, which comes down from the mountain of 
Barba, is the most important affluent of the San Juan. One 
ascends this as far as or above the Miielle (landing), and for a 
long time it formed the continuation of the road to the north, 
formerly the most frequented in going from the plateau central 
to the Atlantic. One of its affluents on the left, the Toro 
Amarillo, which comes from Poas, is navigable part way for 
smaller vessels. On the same side the Sarapiqui receives the 
Rivers Sardinal and Masaya. The affluents on the right are 



10 



COSTA nn\. 



the llivers Puerto \'iejo, iSucio, and Sau Jose ; the Sucio- 
which has its rise in Irazii, sends one of its branches to the 
east before casting itself into the Sarapiqui and rolls along 
ferruginous waters. 

The entire region on the east of the Sarapiqui is so poorly 
known, so cut up by lagoons and natural canals to mingle 
their waters, that for a long time the Colorado or Tortuguero 
has been considered as an arm of the River San Juan, and 
even to-day exact information is lacking as to the hydrogra- 
phy of this part of Costa Rica. The opinion of several per- 
sons worthy of credence is, however, that the Colorado is 
nothing else than the mouth of the Costa Rican river, which 
is called Tortuguero in the upper part of its course. The 
San Juan empties there to-day, after having almost aban- 
doned its old bed, the San Juanillo. One would not wish, 
however, to state as positive fact an opinion which is based 
only on the information of the few individuals who have 
explored the delta covering with its complicated network 
this portion of the country. 

Into the Atlantic there fall the Reventazon, which has its 
rise at the south of Cartago, and whose valley places in 
communication the plateau central and the Atlantic; the 
Pacuare river, and the River Matina. The Reventazon is 
augmented at some distance from the sea by the River 
Parismina. All along the Atlantic, from the mouth of the 
Matina to the Colorado, extends a series of lagoons which 
render the coast marshy and almost uninhabitable. Some 
thought has been given to the canalization of these lagoons 
in order to devote them to the exploitation of the cocoa tree 
which abounds here, but the projected work has never yet 
been put into execution. 

From the mountains of Talamanca descend two great 
rivers — the Teliri or Sicsola, which comes from Cerro Chi- 
ripo, according to some persons, and from Dota, according 
to others, and the Tilorio or Changuinola. Both are navi- 
gable for small craft in the interior. 

On the Pacific side we find at the north the Tempisque, 



THE COUNTRY. 11 

which empties into the bottom of the Gulf of Nicoya and 
which receives as its principal affluent the river of Las 
Piedras. These two are in part navigable. Further south 
and also emptying into the Gulf of Nicoya are found the 
Barranca and the Rio Grande de T4rcoles, the collecting 
basin of which comprises the central plateau. This part 
of the country is very well watered by a number of little 
streams descending either from the volcanic cordillera or 
the cerros of Puriscal and Candelaria and emptying into the 
Tiribi, affluent of the Rio Grande.* 

Properly speaking, the Rio Grande de Pirris and the Rio 
Grande de Terraba flow into the Pacific, as well as a multi- 
tude of lesser streams watering a country of scant popula- 
tion. 

As in all tropical countries, the rivers of Costa Rica are 
subject to sudden rises during the rainy season — rises often 
producing inundation of their shores, carrying away the 
most solid bridges, and in certain localities causing veritable 
disaster. 

It is on the Atlantic side especially that the rivers have 
this torrent-like character. Plere, as everywhere else, not- 
withstanding, the abundance of waters should be considered 
as one of the greatest blessings, since it is to this that the 
countrj^ owes its admirable fertility. 

4. Climatology. — Costa Rica, like all the Central American 
countries, is divided in respect of climate in three vertical 
zones. 

The " hot lands " is the name given the low region which 
reaches from sea-level to the altitude of 3,000 feet, and ex- 
tends along the two coasts and the shores of the San Juan. 
The mean annual temperature of this zone is from 22° to 
28° centigrade (72° to 82° Fahr.). It must be noted that the 

* In considering the general course of the stream called Kio Grande de 
Tarcoles, the Tiribi is evidently the main stream and the Rio Grande the 
affluent. The confusion, doubtless, proceeds from the resemblance between 
the bulk of the waters of the two. 



12 COSTA KICA. 

heat of the Pacific side is greater than that of the Athintic. 
The second region comprehends the temperate lands, which 
lie between 3,000 and 7,500 feet altitude and have a temper- 
ature of 14° to 20° centigrade (r)7° to 08° Fahr.). These 
enjoy a mild and healthful climate, and tlie greater part of 
the population is gathered here. 

Finally, the cold lands are found above 7,500 feet and are 
formed by the summits of the highest mountains. The dif- 
ference between the temperature of day-time and night-time 
is felt here most keenly. Not infrequently the ground ap- 
pears covered with hoar-frost in the morning ; snow, how- 
ever, is extremely rare. 

We shall naturally have to return several times to this 
division of zones. For the moment, we will limit ourselves 
to saying that no one of them is unhealthy — not even that 
of the hot lands, where the trade winds purify the air and 
prevent the development of endemic coast fevers. The for- 
eigner, after a preliminary acclimatization, in submitting 
himself to which he is prudent, by dwelling for some time in 
the temperate regions of the country, can perfectly well in- 
habit the littoral of either Pacific or Atlantic if he be rea- 
sonably careful to avoid all excesses. 

We may note, however, some causes of unhealthfulness. 

Several great rivers of the north slope present this pecu- 
liarity : that while their left banks are formed of dry lands 
free from marshes, their right banks present a succession of 
lagoons and localities frequently inundated, rendering them 
often unhealthful. 

The extensive clearing of lands sometimes brings with it 
during the first few years a little malaria ; nevertheless, per- 
manent fever is only found in the regions of marshes, and it 
is but just to observe that they are usually due to errors in 
diet — especially to the use of the banana — rather than to 
miasma floating in the air. 

As to the insalubrity of some portions of the plateau, the 
cities in particular at certain seasons of the year, it may be 
said that this is but relative and always incidental. If 



THE COUNTRY. 13 

greater care were devoted to suppressing the cause of mias- 
matic emanations, in accordance with hygienic principles, to 
the construction of houses and the cleanliness of streets ; if 
greater importance were attached to the choice of drinking 
water ; if, in short, a more rational regime were observed, a 
great deal of sickness would certainly be avoided, especially 
during the rainy season. 

It will not be superfluous in this connection, to call atten- 
tion to the fact that at the time of the coffee harvest the 
water of the rivers is not only employed as a motive power 
to work the machinery, but also to wash the berry and to 
free it, after a slight fermentation, of its sugary pulp. It is 
obvious that it should thus be absolutely unfit for drinking, 
and it is not astonishing that the people of the country, hav- 
ing used it without precautions, should frequently be affected 
with dysentery. 

The mortality of 1888 reached the number of 5,110, giving 
an average of 1 death to every 39 inhabitants.* This exces- 
sive proportion loses much importance when one glances at 
the following table : 





ilf09 


iality of 1888. 




Children under 10 y 


ears 


. 3,066 


From 10 to 20 




a 


237 


From 20 to 40 




a 


795 


From 40 to 60 




a 


645 


Over 60 years 







367 



Total 5,110 

3,066 children under 10 years — that is to say, 60 % of the 

* In all questions of statistics consult the six volumes of " El Anuario 
Estadistica," 1883, 1884, 1885» 1886, 1887, and 1888, compiled with utmost 
care by the Bureau of Statistics of the Kepublic. 

Keference should also be made to " The Kepublic of Costa Eica," by Joa- 
quin Bernardo Calvo, translated and edited hy L. Tyner. Eand, McNally 
& Co., publishers, Chicago, U. S. A. 



14 COSTA UlCA. 

whole number of deatlis! A considerable part of tliis ab- 
normal mortality must be attributed to a habit which the 
people of tiie country have of letting their children run 
barefooted and poorly clad in all weathers. This unfortu- 
nate custom disappears accordingly as the laws of hygiene 
are better understood ; in no case should it be considered as 
a consequence of poverty, the people, as a rule, being unac- 
quainted with want.* 

The same statistics show, among the 307 deaths of persons 
over ()(), 3() nonagenarians and 10 centenarians ;. and, al- 
though the year appear exceptional in this respect, one 
may assert that cases of longevity are decidedly frequent. 

Tlie seasons, well defined and characterized by the fall or 
the absence of rain, are the verano or dry 'season, which be- 
gins in December to end in April or May, and the invierno 
or rainy season; which lasts from the month of May to the 
end of November. During the Costa Eican invierno, which 
corresponds to the summer and autumn of the north tem- 
perate zone, the air, although rarely nebulous, is almost 
constantly saturated with vapor, and to this is owing its, at 
times, remarkable transparency. During the verano, on the 
contrary, the air, which is almost never cleansed by rain, 
becomes loaded with dust and is extremely dry during the 
hottest hours of the day. 

The rain-fall stands in direct relation to the system of 
winds. The northeast trade-wind loses its humidity in 
ascending the slopes of the cordillera tending eastward on 
the Atlantic side ; it is thus a dry wind, whicli blows fi*om 
November to March across the plateau. From April to 
October, one has the monsoon of the southwest as dominant 
wind on the Pacific side, where — we may observe in this 
connection — it rains less than on that of the Atlantic. Tliis 

* The country people are so accustomed to their children dying at an 
early n^e that it is the custom among them on each occasion of such a death 
to expose the little body, dressed in its best finery, in the principal room 
of the house, and to invite the neighbors and friends to a little fete, in 
which the parents are the first to take part. It is what is called an angelUo. 



THE COUNTRY. 



15 



wind, meeting no mountains high enough to condense the 
water vapor with which it is charged, arrives at the plateau 
central still saturated with moisture, and thus produces the 
abundant rains which characterize the invierno. The tem- 
porales are rare in Costa Rica — that is to say, it almost never 
rains continuously for several days. During all the invierno, 
except in the month of October, the wettest period of the 
year, one can count on sunshiny mornings. It is hardly 
before ■ afternoon, from 2 o'clock until 4, that the aguacero 
falls, which lasts but a short time, but sometimes is of ex- 
cessive violence, as much as 60 millimetres of water having 
been caught in the space of an hour. 

The study of the climatology of Costa Rica has made great 
progress of late years, thanks to the intelligent attention of 
the government. The meteorological institute already ex- 
isting has just been reorganized into a physico-geographical 
institute destined to render the greatest service to science 
and to the country itself, since scientific exploration of the 
Republic occupies an important place in the programme of 
its work. This institute has been placed under the direc- 
tion of a most competent man. Prof. H. Pittier, to whom, as 
has already been observed, we are indebted for many of the 
preceding points. 

5. Natural Products. — Despite the number of special works 
proceeding from the pens of distinguished scholars, the nat- 
ural products of Costa Rica are as yet little known. They 
have not been, as a whole, the object of study, and we can- 
not give here more than an incomplete and barren naming 
of the principal among them. We may add, however, that 
for some years the government has made notable efforts to 
encourage scientific research, with the object of rendering 
them better appreciated. 

The greater part of the works published abroad by natural- 
ists or engineers who have visited Costa Rica have been 
translated and printed through its efforts.* A national ex- 

*See first three volumes of the " Colleccion de documentos para hi His- 
toria de Costa Kica," published by Don Leon Fernandez. 



16 COSTA KR'A. 

position, opened to the i)ublic the loth of September, 188G, 
revealed a great variety of tlie eouiitry's products. The 
greater part of these products have formed the nucleus of a 
national museum, wliicli is being added to day l)v day.* 

Mineral Kingdom. — 01' all tlie metals gold i.s tlie only one 
which has been seriously exploited. The Monte Aguacaie 
contains the })rincipal mines of this precious metal in the 
district called " Ciruelitas." The production lias not been 
great until of late, from the lack of labor; but the quite 
recent placing of new and powerful machinery, which has 
not cost less than $100,000, will permit of serious exploita- 
tion in the near future. The proprietors of the only mine, 
" La Trinidad," count upon a yield of at least $30,000 per 
month for the coming year. For a long time very rich gold 
mines were believed to exist in Talamanca, in the basin of 
the river Changuinola, formerly called Estrella. The works 
of Dr. Frantziusf have made it appear very clear that this 
belief was the result of a confusion of names. 

Besides gold, the principal metals whose existence has 
been established beyond doubt in Costa Rica, but which 
have not been seriously exploited, are: iron in abundance; 
copper, rich niines of which exist in the mountains of Can- 
delaria ; argentiferous lead, and quicksilver. 

Among other mineral products should be cited sulphur, 
kaolin, lignite, plastic argil, limestone, marble, gypsum, poz- 
zalana, and alum, all unexploited excepting the limestone. 

Almost everywhere throughout the country mineral and 
thermal waters are found. | The most celebrated are those 

*The National Museum, at present connected with the Physico-Geograph- 
ical Institute, has already published a volume of annals, whii-h contains 
some interesting works on the natural history of the countr\-. 

j- "/4ce;"ca del verdadero sltlo de las rlcas mlnas de Tisingal y Estrella, bus- 
cadas sin resiiltado en Costa Rica.'" Estudio por el Dr. A. von Frantzius, 
traducido del aleman. Doc. jiara la Historia de Costa Rica. Pub. por Don 
Leon Fernandez. Tomo II, p. 23. 

J See in this connection the study of Dr. Frantzius, "2)te ivarmen Min- 
eral quelle in Costa Rica," published in the " Neues Jahrbuch fiir Mineralo- 
gie, Geologie and Palseontologie." V. Heft, p. 496-510, Stuttgart, 1873. 



THE COUNTRY. 



17 



of Agua Caliente, about five miles from the city of Cartago, 
for the exploitation of which a stock company has been 
formed, under the name of the " Bella Vista Company." 
This society is working actively for the construction of a 
bathing establishment responding to modern exigencies and 
of a hotel affording all desirable comforts to invalids or 
travelers. The analysis of the water of Agua Caliente made 
by the chemist, Dr. C. F. Chandler, of New York, in 1887, 
gave the following results : 



Sodium chloride 


. 61.2922 


Bicarb, lithium 


Traces 


" sodium 


. 15.1568 


" magnesium 


13.0165 


" calcium 


. 56.0627 


" barium 


0.2624 


" strontium 


Traces 


" iron 


1.3588 


" copper 


Traces 


" manganese 


Traces 


Sulphate potassium 


. 2.5775 


" sodium 


37.7258 


Phosphate " 


. 0.1108 


Biborate " 


1.7669 


Arsenite " 


Traces 


Alumina " 


0.1166 


Silica " 


. 3.6157 


Organic matter 


Traces 


Total . 


. 193.0627 


(Signed) 


C. F. Chandler, Ph. D 



The figures given represent grains, and the analysis was 
made from the quantity of water to a gallon of the United 
States, which contains 231 cubic inches. There exist min- 
eral springs in many other localities. Those most resem- 
bling Agua Caliente are those of Orosi, in the same neigh- 

2 



18 COSTA RICA. 

borhootl as the former, and those of Salitral, near San 
Jose. 

Fauna. — The fauna of Costa Rica owes its extreme rich- 
ness to the intermediate position of the country between the 
two Americas. Among the mammifers* may be named the 
lynx and the puma, called also jaguar and cougar (the 
American tiger and lion), the ocelot (another feline), the coy- 
ote, a great variety of monkeys, many rodents, whose meat 
is savory ; the peccary, the tapir, whose hide, the thickest 
known, is of great value ; several species of opossum, the 
deer, the fallow deer, the armadillo, some bats (vampires 
and dangerous to cattle), and, finally, the curious lamentin, 
which inhabits the lagoons of the eastern side of the country. 

The forests abound with birds of marvelous beauty, among 
which must be mentioned the superb quetzal with metal- 
green plumage, macaws of various colors, toucans with 
enormous beaks, quantities of humming birds, jewel-winged ; 
many little singing birds ; and, in a different line, ring-doves, 
turkeys, and partridges of delicate taste. Birds of prey are 
numerous. The most common is the zopilote, species of vul- 
ture, which renders important services in clearing away the 
refuse of the cities. 

Venomous serpents are only found in a small number on 
the central plateau, but they swarm in the marshy regions 
of the north and in certain localities on the Pacific coast. 
Cases of death from their bites are, however, rare. 

Crocodiles abound in the Tempisque river, and on the 
Atlantic coast enormous turtles are found. 

The rivers of the interior of the country produce a large 

* For mammifers consult the work of Dr. v. Frantzius ; for birds, the 
catalogues and descriptions of George N. Lawrence, Dr. Frantzius, and of 
the Costa Rica naturalist, Jose C. Zeledon, all published in the collection of 
" Documentos para la historia de Costa Rica," by Don Leon Fernandez ; 
for reptiles see the work of E. D. Cope, based chiefly on the researches of 
Dr. Wm. M. Gabb in his explorations of the province of Talamanca. The 
most complete work on the fauna of Costa Rica and of Central America in 
general is the " Central American Bloloffi/," now in course of publication. 



THE COUNTKY. 19 

fish called " bobo," whose meat is greatly liked, and in the 
river San Juan there is an excellent species of salmon. Un- 
fortunately, fishing regulations are little observed, and an 
immense quantity of fish is destroyed by use of dynamite. 
The establishment of pisciculture for the restocking of the 
streams is a desideratum of the future. 

Mosquitoes, one of the great plagues of tropical countries, 
are comparatively rare in Costa Rica. Even on the hot 
plains of the north one can sleep the greater part of the year 
without mosquito bars. 

The native bee produces a honey having exciting proper- 
ties and a black, aromatic wax. The introduction of Italian 
bees would be of benefit to the country. 

Flora. — The vegetation is everywhere of exceeding vigor 
and variety, thanks to the fertile soil, the abundance of 
water, and the diversity of climate. This exuberance is 
found in the temperate regions as well as on the hot lands, 
and the traveler arriving for the first time in the country 
may expect to find at a height of 6,000 feet, on the sides of the 
volcanic Cordillera, the luxuriant flora which he has admired 
a short distance from the Atlantic or Pacific coast. 

The species are changed, but everywhere it is a confusion 
of giant trees, some having branches and leafage in profu- 
sion, others with smooth trunks like elegant columns. Every- 
where are seen, swinging from their very tops in long strings, 
the flexible stems of a multitude of plants of various fami- 
lies, to which it is the custom to give the generic name of 
bind-weed. The trunks, branches, and even the leafage are 
covered with a multitude of epiphytes ; silver lichens ; pur- 
ple or emerald ferns, with notched fronds ; bromeliacese 
with thick leaves marbled with livid or rusty spots ; orchids, 
with curiously divided corolla and painted with the richest 
hues ; aroides, in short, with spatha of purple or immacu- 
late whiteness. Everywhere there is underbrush, an impen- 
etrable mass of bushes, often thorny, of reeds, which obstruct 
the passage, and of climbing plants, whose flowers, solitary 



20 COSTA UICA. 

or in clusters, but always brilliant, thrust their clear note 
upon the demi-obscurit}' of the virgin forest. 

It is only at the present day that this admirable flora is 
beginning to be studied, and considerable time will i)c re- 
quired before the elements of it ma}^ be completely under- 
stood.* 

We shall return to the principal forest species and shall 
consider the natural agricultural products in the chapter 
treating of " Lands and Improvements," limiting ourselves 
at present to the mere indication of the general features of 
vegetation. 

It may be said that the flora of Costa Rica forms the con- 
necting link between tliat of North America and that of the 
Andes. Apart from its endemical species it presents an in- 
finitude of classes and species belonging to both these re- 
gions, and if the Andean character predominate it is because 
Costa Rica was united to South America long before being 
joined to Mexico. 

The tropical flora shows itself in all its splendor on the 
coasts, while the vegetation of the volcanic summits takes a 
markedly sub-alpine character. Between these two extremes 
one observes on the usually cultivated plateaux of the inte- 
rior the greatest diversity of families, gonuses, and species. 

In returning to the division of zones, of which we have 
already spoken, we may sa}^ that the hot lands are regions 
of virgin forests, and that there are found in particular 
the palms, the arborescent ferns, the vanilla, the caoutchouc, 
the cacao, and an infinite variety of trees, giving orna- 
mental and dye-woods, such as mahogany, cedar (gen. ce- 
drela, fam. of Cedrelaceee), cocobola, guayacan, mora, Brazil 
wood, etc., etc. 

The temperate lands are characterized by the numerous 
" cultures," of which may be cited the coffee, sugar-cane, and 
bananas in the warmest localities ; corn, potatoes, and beans 



* We may cite among botanists who have contributed to the study of the 
flora of Costa Rica: Oersted, Hoffmann, Polakowsky, Kunze, Warscewicz, 
Wendland, and Pittier. 



THE COUNTRY. 



21 



in the higher regions, where the fields are of vast extent. 
In less elevated parts there abound fruit trees, such as the 
aguacate, the native plum tree, the orange tree, the mangle, 
and a host of others. In the forests are found many woods 
for building, the most of which are known only by their 
native name, such as the cedar (cedrela), the nnambar, the 
guachipelin, the ira, the quizarra, the ronron, etc. 

Above 6,000 feet begins the region of oaks, which become 
rarer and diminish in vigor in the cold lands. These have 
as principal vegetation at the tops of the volcanoes myrtles, 
more or less stunted, and with a mixing of species, present- 
ing, as we have already stated, a very pronounced sub-alpine 
character. 

6. Routes.— Gosis^ Rica has thus far only certain fragments 
of a railroad, which is intended to unite the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, while passing through the principal towns of the 
plateau central. 

The parts now constructed and exploited are the follow- 
ing : 

^ Miles. 

1. From Port Limon, on the Atlantic, to 

Carrillo, a small settlement on the river 
Sucio, at the foot of Irazu ... 70 

2. From Cartago to Alajuela, on the plateau 

central, passing through San Jose, cap- 
ital of the Republic .... 26| 

3. From Puntarenas, on the Pacific, to Es- 

parta, at the foot of Monte de Agua- 
cate 14 



Total IIOJ 

In all, then, llOJ miles of railway, which renders impor- 
tant service, either in permitting quick and easy connections 
between the principal neighborhoods of the country's center 
or in favoring the commerce of the two coasts. 

A line of especial importance is in process of construction. 



22 



COSTA RICA. 



and will probably be in working order in the course of the 
coming year. This new road starts from C'artago and fol- 
lows the valley of the Reventazon to connect with the line 
already existing between Limon and Carrillo. By this, San 
Jose and the plateau central will be placed in direct com- 
munication with the Atlantic, and therefrom will result a 
veritable economic revolution in the country by the dim- 
inution of expense and time required for transportation 
from the interior to the coast or vice versa, and the avoid- 
ance of difficulties in travel, often serious, especially during 
the rainy season. 

Another railway project has been made a subject of study 
of late — the question of connecting the Limon line with a 
point on the River San Juan, passing through the region of 
the great rivers of the north. This new road, once con- 
structed, will obtain some considerable advantages for the 
two Republics of Nicaragua and Costa Rica in putting them 
in direct communication. It will permit also the improve- 
ment of an enormous amount of very fertile land, whose 
production amounts to almost nothing at present by reason 
of its inaccessibility. 

The exploitation or the construction of all these lines of 
railway is, with the exception of the little branch of the 
Pacific, in the hands of an English company, whose repre- 
sentative, Mr. M. C. Keith, is the type of those American im- 
presarios so remarkable for their intelligence, their activity, 
and their faith in the success of most difficult undertakings. 

The highroads — called caminos rcalcs — in Costa Rica are 
maintained at public expense. This maintenance is exceed- 
ingly difficult because of the continuous rains of the invierno, 
and also because of the solid wooden wheels of the chariots, 
■whose narrow edges cut into the ground wherever they pass. 
The most frequented of the highroads is the main route from 
San Jose to Puntarenas, which passes the Monte de Agua- 
cate and by a point from which one enjoys one of the most 
panoramic views in the world, looking over the gulf sown 
with islands and the peninsula of Nicoya. 



THE COUXTEY. 23 

Beside the highroads, there are los cawAnos de tie^rra, roads 
leading from the plateau to the interior of the country. One 
of these, passing over the hill of La Palma, goes from San 
Jose to Carrillo, where terminates the railway line from 
Lirnon, and is at present the direct road for reaching the 
Atlantic. We have already mentioned that some years 
since one traveled by the Sarapiqui road, which, passing 
through the depression of Desengafio, between Barba and 
Poas, leads to the river. Other roads lead to the lowlands 
of San Carlos, to Guanacaste, to Talamanca, and to the 
region of Terraba. They are all more or less in good con- 
dition, according to the season and the lands which they 
cross. As a general thing, they are only fit for horseback 
travel, being unsuited for the chariots. 

7. Post Office and Telegraph. — The postal service is verv^ 
satisfactorily organized. The central office is at San Jose, 
and the smallest village of the plateau is connected with it, 
usually by means of mounted couriers, who make several 
leagues daily to carry the correspondence to its destination. 
Some of the couriers go even to San Carlos, to Talamanca 
and to Boruca, and are often weeks in making their trips. 

The foreign mails are attended to with ease and frequence. 
Several departures and arrivals are counted weekly by the 
way of Panama, Colon, San Francisco, Xew Orleans, or New 
York. The correspondence taking the latter two routes may 
arrive in Europe in less than twenty days ; that which leaves 
France by the way of Southampton requires t'<\'enty-five days 
to reach San Jose, and that leaving the ports of Bordeaux 
and St. Nazaire, to arrive first at Colon, then Panama, then 
Puntarenas, reaches its destination in thirty to forty days, 
according to the coincidence of arrivals and departures of 
vessels.* 

The installation of the telegraph in Costa Pica dates back 

*In 1887 the postal movement, including both foreign and domestic mat- 
ter, reached 2,437,639 pieces, of which 663,444 were letters and 1,411,602 
printed matter. Let us remember that Costa Rica has 200,000 inhabitants. 



24 COSTA lUCA. 

a long time. The number of offices increases every year, 
and the system comprises already over 600 miles of wire. 
The transmission of telegrams for foreign countries is made 
by land as for as San Juan del Sur, a Nicaragua Pacific 
port. 

The government, nevertheless, has lately signed a contract 
with a company which shall undertake the laying of a sub- 
marine cable on the Atlantic coast, and there is every reason 
to believe that very shortly Costa Rica will he in direct cable 
communication with the United States and Europe by a 
point on its eastern coast.* 

8. Eventual Interoceanic Canals. — That which renders the 
situation of Costa Rica exceedingly flivorable, and which 
will certainly one day permit her to consider herself as 
privileged among nations, is that she occupies exactly the 
territory comprised between the two great interoceanic 
canals which are most likely to be opened eventually to the 
commerce of the world. 

Although the Republic does not touch directly on the 
Panama, canal, its commerce, which takes to a considerable 
extent the isthmus route, will naturally gain by the conclu- 
sion of the vast work in which France has taken so impor- 
tant a part. After having consumed so many human lives 
and so much capital — if we may be permitted to say so in 
passing — the work of the opening has not been abandoned, 
though even but temporarily, without this confession of fail- 
ure having struck sadness to the hearts of all men of prog- 
ress and of faith in the future of science and human might. 

A contract was concluded in the month of July of the 
past year between the Government of Costa Rica and Mr. A. 
G. Menocal, representing the Nicaragua Canal Company. 
This contract sets forth the rights of the Republic to part of 
the waters and territory which the projected canal by the 
River San Juan and the Lake of Nicaragua would utilize? 

* Contract. V. Cuenca Creus, Gaceta Oficial, March 29, 1889. 



THE COUNTRY. 25 

and makes clear the concessions which the government 
would grant the company upon the execution of the work, 
declared of public benefit. As the canal project through 
Central America has as yet had no beginning, except of pre- 
liminary surveys, we shall not linger over the terms of the 
contract. 

It is hardly necessary to call attention to the immense ad- 
vantages which Costa Rica will derive from the establish- 
ment of the Menocal canal. The latter would place it, 
indeed, directly upon the line of one of the greatest com- 
mercial routes of the world. 

We may add that the Government of Nicaragua has raised 
doubts as to the rights which Costa Rica may have to cele- 
brate a contract with the canal company, and has laid claim 
to exclusive possession of the waters of the San Juan river. 
The question has been submitted for arbitration to the Pres- 
ident of the United States and will be very soon decided. 

One can hardly doubt what the verdict will be when one 
remembers that the territory of Costa Rica touches on the 
San Juan, starting from three miles below Fort Castillo 
Viejo — that is to say, on more than half its course — and that 
this river receives as tributary from Costa Rica the greater 
part of its waters, which come to it through the vast arteries 
of the San Carlos and the Sarapiqui. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE INHABITANTS. 

1. Origin and Customs. — The population of Costa Rica has 
its own peculiar character. As in all the Spanish American 
republics the foundation is in a mingling of the indigenous 
race and the white conquering race, the latter predominating, 
however, which is not the case in the other sections of Cen- 
tral America. 

At the time of the Spaniards' arrival the Indians were 
numerous and were divided in various tribes, some of which 
had attained to a certain degree of civilization. They wove 
coarse fabrics, built strongholds or j^dicnques, manufactured 
pottery more curious than artistic, and carved idols or altars 
for sacrijfices in stone. They knew also how to work in gold, 
from which metal they made ornaments and symbols of dis- 
tinction.* Their social organization lacking unity or cohe- 
sion, they could not long resist the Spanish invaders ; yet 
they sold their liberty dearly ; one of the audacious conqiiis- 
tadorcs met his death in attempting to penetrate to tlie inte- 
rior from the Pacific side.f However, in 1565, under the gov- 
ernment of Juan Vasquez de Coronado, the country was to be 
considered as an acquisition to the Spanish crown, excepting 
the province of Talamanca, the conquest of which dates from 
the beginning of the seventeenth century. Immediately after 
the settling of the first Spaniards the Indian race began to de- 
cline. We shall not go into the history of the conquest of Costa 
Rica ; let it suffice to say that it does not differ greatly from that 
of countries better known. It is, indeed, but the repetition 
on a smaller scale of wdiat occurred in Cuba, in Mexico, 

* The museum in San Jose contains a magnificent collection of Indian 
relics, owing to the generosity of the late Don Eamon R. Troyo. 
f Diego Gutierrez ; year 1544. 

(26) 



97 

THF INHABITANTS. "^ ' 



and in Peru— on one side, the ever-increasing greed of the 
conquerors; on the other, a rapid annihilation of the In- 
dians, Uttle fit for work and reduced to a servitude more or 
less disguised. The few natives who have survived the 
successive disappearances of various tribes are those who 
dwelt far from the plateau, and with whom the Europeans 
never had continuous relations. The present Indians have 
degenerated and their number diminishes every year. It 
is with great difficulty that Mgr. B. A. Thiel, bishop of 
Costa Rica, after several journeys to the interior of the coun- 
try, has succeeded in reaching some of them and gaming 
little by little their confidence. The linguistics have de- 
rived great benefit from the travels of the courageous and 
indefatigable bishop, since, thanks to him, we now possess a 
dictionary of the principal Indian dialects of the country. 
The tribes existing at the present day comprise the Gautu- 
sos settled in the basin of the Rio Frio, in the northwest of 
the country, the Indians of Boruca and of Terraba, occu- 
pying the basin of the river to which they have given their 
name, on the Pacific slope, and the natives of Talamanca, 
divided into Cabecares, Bribis, and Tiribis. All these In- 
dians put together form a total of something like 3,000 
inhabitants, but their number is rapidly decreasing every 

^"^The greater part of the population are descendants of the 
Spaniards who settled in the country to succeed the valiant 
conquistadores of the latter half of the sixteenth century. 
Costa Rica, despite her name, did not in early times otter 
o-reat resources to those who came to settle; moreover, the 
tide of population, greedy for riches and mostly adventurers, 
which directed itself toward America immediately this latter 
was discovered, had left but little. We may attribute to the 

*Apimtes lexicogrdfieos de las lenguas y los dialectos de los Indios de Tala- 
manca, by B. A. Thiel, Bishop of Costa Eica. San Jose de Costa Kica, 
1882 Bee also Tribus y lenguas indigenas de Costa Rica, by Dr. W. m. 
Gabb ; published in England and also translated for the Docicmentos para 
la Historia de Costa Rica of Don L. Fernandez, vol. III. 



28 COSTA RICA. 

poverty of the first inhabitants — a poverty whicli continued 
up to the beginning of our century — the preservation of the 
principal virtues of the race — sobriety, simplicity, morality, 
and love of work — virtues existing to this day in a robust 
and healthy people. 

Despite the s|)irit of the times, which little by little, the 
world over, tends to efface the distinctive characteristics of 
nations, there still predominates in the country a truly patri- 
arclial s^'stem. The proprietor of a great coffee or banana 
plantation is certainly above the peones who work on his land. 
He lives with tliem, however, on a footing of almost com- 
plete equality — at least during tlie time that he passes in the 
country. Never were citizens of a republic more democratic. 
No, or very little, distinction of birth, fortune, or position 
is made ; the individual is judged by his aptitudes and his 
morality. Respect for order and property is maintained to 
the last degree. The people — and we refer to the great mass 
of the population — obey the laws with exemplar)^ submis- 
sion, and never resist authority. Crime is extremely rare, 
and property has alwaj^s been protected, even when political 
passions have caused the parties to take up arms. We should 
hasten, however, to add that there are some shadows in the 
picture ; for, if the Costa Ricans have kept intact the ancient 
virtues of the mother country, they have also retained the 
faults. 

The abnormal augmentation of the wealth of the country, 
especially of late years, has not failed to have an unfortunate 
influence upon the morals. There is a tendency to luxury 
at the capital. The love of gambling — a vice common to all 
southern people and to many others as well — is perhaps 
more largely developed than formerly. The abuse of liquor 
becomes more frequent. AVe may say that the Costa Rican 
has one fault of race, owing perhaps to the enervating mild- 
ness of the climate. He lacks, as a general thing, the initia- 
tive and resolution. To-morrow (manana) is a word too 
often on his lips, as are the faintly affirmative expressions, 
AVho knows (Quien sabe) ? Perhaps (Talvez, quiza). He has 



THE INHABITANTS. 29 

little faith in the American saying that nime is money," 
nor that " punctuality is the beginning of politeness. You 
may have in Costa Rica friends veritably devoted to you; 
count upon their honor, their loyalty, their steadfastness, but 
never count upon their being punctual. 

Nevertheless, the blood that flows in the veins of the peo- 
ple of this Republic is too generous, the example of their fore- 
fathers is still too bright to memory, for the defects, which 
impartiahty has obliged us to point out, ever to alter seriously 
the happy combination of fundamental virtues which we 
have outlined. The Costa Ricans are a people of excellent 
metal, hke all nations of agricultural basis. Ardently patri- 
otic, they are very proud of their independence, their au- 
tonomy, and of a prosperity due almost wholly to industry. 
Their motto might well be : Work, order, and liberty. 

The census, taken at various times from the year 1826 up 
to the present day, denotes a large increase in population. 
According to various calculations, the average annual in- 
crease is 2-1- per cent. The number of inhabitants, however, 
has more than doubled during the last 40 years. It is very 
evident that the figures given, even for the last few years, 
cannot be considered as exact. The census-taking for the 
entire Republic presents, indeed, great difficulties. Outside 
of the plateau central the population is scattered, and the 
people, still ignorant, do not always lend their assistance m 
that of which they appreciate neither the purpose nor the 
utility We will, however, admit as probably correct the 
figures given by the Bureau of Statistics of the Republic for 
the last two years. The 31st of December, 1887, the num- 
ber of inhabitants of Costa Rica was placed at 200,197 ; on 
the same date, 1888, at 204,201.* 

~*^Waiiything referring to previous years consult the Anuario Estadistica, 
years 1883, '84, '85, '86 ; also the book, already referred to in the previous 
chapter, of J. B. Calvo, translated by L. Tyner. Eand, McNally & Co 
publishers, Chicago, Ills. The figures which we have given were obtained 
from the census sheets. If one calculates numerous omissions which it has 
been impossible to avoid, a population of nearly 225,000 must be admitted. 



30 COSTA KICA. 

Tlie language of the country is Spanish ; nevertheless, 
many Costa Ricans know English and French, which are 
taught in the schools and the knowledge of which is more 
valuable from day to day in proportion as commerce devel- 
ops and relations with foreign countries are augmented. 

The Tiilgion of the land is the Roman Catholic. The con- 
stitution permits religious worship according to other creeds.* 
The people are in nowise fanatical, and the greatest tolerance 
exists from the top to the bottom of the social scale. From 
the 1st of January, 1S88, a general registry of civil state has 
existed at San Jose, the capital of the Republic. 

2. Cities and Villages. — The most important center of pop- 
ulation of the country, from any point of view, is without 
question the capital, San Jose. This city, which contains 
to-day from 20,000 to 25,000 inhabitants, is situated 3,711 
feet above sea-level. f Its foundation hardly began before the 
second half of the eighteenth century, and it was not until 
the year 1813 that San Jose received from the Spanish court 
the name of city. Its fortunate location in the midst of the 
principal centers of po]3ulation already existing on the pla- 
teau central, combined with the fertility of the surrounding 
lands, gave the new site very speedily an importance of 
which its founders had certainly not dreamed. The princi- 
pal focus of liberal ideas, its inhabitants in concert with 
those of the city of Alajuela, took such a part 'in the inde- 
pendence of the little Republic that in 1823, San Jose became 
the capital at the expense of old Cartago. Political reasons, 
it is true, brought about the transference of the seat of au- 
thority ; nevertheless, the new cit}^ deserved, in addition to 
other rights, to be placed at the head of the country as much 
because of its most rapid development as because of its cen- 
tral location. 

Such as it is to-day, the city of San Jose is one of the most 
interesting in Central America. Viewed from neigldjoring 



*Consiitucio7i Politiea, 1871, art. 51. 

I H. Pittier. Boletin del Observaiorio Meteorologico. Year 1( 



THE INHABITANTS. 



31 



heights, it has a uniform aspect and produces a rather disa- 
greeable impression with its multitude of slightly sloping 
roofs, a veritable sea of gray tiles, whence emerge rare groups 
of trees, and here and there the bodies of the principal edi- 
fices; but the impression changes when one goes about in 
the town. The houses are as a rule low, a good precaution 
against earthquakes ; but the streets are regular and well 
kept. Several buildings are worthy of remark and numer- 
ous new ones are in process of construction on every side. 
Two principal parks and a quantity of little squares brighten 

the city. 

San Jose having always been much visited by strangers, 
the hotels there have an international character and offer 
the traveler all desirable comforts. The most striking edi- 
fices are the national buildings, such as the presidential pal- 
ace and the national palace, where are found the various 
government offices. The churches, the principal of which, 
the cathedral, has facing it a park shaded by great ficus 
(a species of fig trees with a diminutive fruit) and maintained 
with great care. Some of the public or private buildings, 
besides, attract attention ; among these we shall mention the 
building of the old University of St. Thomas, where are 
found the museum, the national archives, and the library ; 
the two colleges for young men and young ladies, the latter 
in construction ; the covered market ; the Hospital of San 
Juan de Dios; the insane asylum, hardly completed; the 
bishop's palace, recently finished, and the Bank of La Union. 
Some of these buildings— especially the churches— suffered 
at the time of the last earthquake, but the damages are 
being industriously repaired. It is particularly in these 
later years that the ever-increasing prosperity of San Jose 
has asserted itself in a remarkable fashion. Almost all the 
buildings that we have mentioned are of quite recent con- 
struction. The city of San Jose is being so rapidly trans- 
formed that it will not be long, judging from appearances, 
before it ranks first among Central American cities. 

The houses to-day are, as a rule, built of brick ; very few 



32 roSTA KICA. 

are of .stojie, which has to be brought a considerable distance 
and the cutting of which costs a great deal. The old dwell- 
ings had their walls made of adobes, great bricks of beaten 
clay mixed with chopped straw, and their partitions or their 
upper stories made of bahajeque, trellis of reeds covered with 
thick mortar. They all have at the back or in the interior 
a patio or garden not visible from the street. These pa/ios or 
gardens make the house j^leasant, permit the circulation of 
air, and admit the light. The rooms are too often small and 
uncomfortable, except the large reception-room. 

San Jose has a very complete water- works system. 
- The city is lighted by electricity and the streets are clean 
and well kept in the most frequented parts. The municipal 
government exerts itself, besides, to improve each year the 
organization of public works. 

Five or six leagues (about 13 miles) east of San Jose 
is the city of Cartago, the old capital. This city is situated 
in the center of a charming valle}^ at the foot of the vol- 
cano Irazu ; its altitude is 4,633 feet. Founded at the 
beginning of the settlement of the Spaniards in the country, 
it may be in 1563, it has retained even to these later days 
a certain stamp of antiquity, of which its rebuilding after 
the earthquake of 1841, of which we have already spoken, 
has not deprived it. Its climate is cooler than that of 
San Jose, but the surrounding lands are less fertile. Con- 
nected of late with the capital by the railroad, Cartago is 
goiup- to be the head of the line which shall connect the 
plateau central with the Atlantic. The influx of foreign 
labor of late has naturally taken from Cartago a good deal 
of its former aspect and the city is altering its appear- 
ance. There are already existing fine buildings, like the 
municipal palace, the College of San Luis, and the barracks, 
not to mention various churches built of stone, which is 
abundant in the surrounding neighborhood. Recently a 
fine market has been built and several private residences. 
A tramway connects the city with the baths of Agua Caliente, 



THE INHABITANTS. 33 

which we have ah-eady mentioned, the trip being made in 
half an hour. Cartago has a population of 8,000 to 10,000. 

The two principal centers of population on the plateau 
central, a little to the north and west of San Jose, are the 
cities of Heredia and Alajuela, connected with the capital by 
the railroad. Heredia is situated 3,655 feet above sea-level 
and Alajuela, 2,950 feet. The climate of the latter city is a 
little warmer than that of other parts of the plateau. The 
population of Heredia is estimated at 7,000, and that of 
Alajuela at 8,000. Both present an agreeable aspect and 
have public buildings not lacking in a certain beauty sur- 
rounding their plazas shaded by great trees on each side. 
Although capitals of provinces, their importance is less than 
that of San Jose or Cartago ; they are inhabited by peace- 
loving people of agricultural pursuits who live in comfort, 
and are both fairly prosperous. 

In the neighborhood of the cities we have just mentioned 
the country is covered with flourishing villages and half 
hidden with plantations. There it is that the true popula- 
tion of Costa Rica dwells, since it is there that are found the 
hardy and simple toilers who wrest from the earth the pro- 
ducts which form the wealth of the land. An air of ease 
combined with antique simplicity characterizes the majority 
of these villages, superior in many respects to those of certain 
portions of old Europe. 

Outside of the plateau central we must mention the two 
ports of Puntarenas and Limon on the two oceans which 
wash the shores of Costa Rica, the Pacific and Atlantic, and 
the little city of Liberia, capital of the province of Guanacaste. 
Let us pass over this last, which has not over 4,000 inhab- 
itants and whose development must necessarily be slow because 
of its remoteness from other centers of population. 

Puntarenas and Limon are the principal places of two 
semi-provinces {comarcas). The first of these two ports was 
for a long time the principal custom port of the country, for 
both importation and exportation. It has lost something of 
this importance as a result of the construction of the railway 



34 COSTA RICA. 

line from Liinon to Carrillo, on the Atlantic side ; and its 
harbor, encroached upon by the sands, is not frequented as 
often to-day by foreign vessels as it formerly was. Punta- 
renas enjoys a healthful climate the greater part of the year, 
and serves, indeed, as a pleasure resort for well-to-do families 
of the interior, who go there to pass some months of the dry 
seasons. Limon, although possessing little salubrity, like 
all the ports of the Atlantic coast from the mouth of the 
Amazon to that of the Mississippi, is, however, destined to a 
grand future. The building of the Reventazon branch of 
the railway will make of it the port of easiest access for the 
inhabitants of the interior and the most advantageous point 
for unloading merchandise coming from Europe or the 
United States. 

From an administrative point of view, Costa Rica is di- 
vided into five provinces and two semi-provinces, which in 
turn are divided into cantons. The following table will en- 
able one to judge of the importance of each of these divis- 
ions : 

Statistics of Year 1888. 

Province of San Jose (6 cantons) . . 63,406 inhabitants. 

" Alajuela (6 cantons) . . 51,087 

Cartago (3 cantons) . . 33,887 

" Heredia (5 cantons) . . 29,409 

" Guanacaste (5 cantons) . 16,323 

Semi-province of Puntarenas (3 cantons) 8,409 

" Limon 1,707 



Total 204,201 

3. The Government. — From the memorable 15th of Sep- 
tember, 1821, the day when was proclaimed in Guatemala 
the absolute independence of Central America, Costa Rica 
has remained a representative republic. The present con- 
stitution was proclaimed the 7th of December, 1871. It 
guarantees notably to citizens equality before the law, the 



THE INHABITANTS. 35 

right to hold property, the inviolability of domicile, the 
rights of petition and of reunion, liberty of thought and 
speech, and the right of habeas corpus. The enjoyment of all 
these civil rights applies to foreigners as well as to Costa 
Ricans. 

The division of power is clearly established. A Congress 
whose members are named by the electors, upon whom the 
masses have conferred the right to do so, forms the legisla- 
tive power. This Congress numbers at present 28 members, 
and is usually in session from the month of May to the end 
of June. It is often prolonged, however, into August. Dur- 
ing its annual session it chooses from its midst a permanent 
commission of five members, who occupy themselves during 
the year with affairs of greatest urgency. The discussion of 
the budget is always the principal part of the work of Con- 
gress. For some years past all contracts to be made by the 
government with companies or private individuals of the 
country or foreigners have been submitted for its considera- 
tion. In their decisions the legislative assemblies of Costa 
Rica have always given evidence of a true spirit of modera- 
tion and justice and of ardent desire for the progress and 
development of the country. 

The executive power is in the hands of the President of the 
Republic, who exercises it with the assistance of Secretaries of 
State chosen by him and forming his Cabinet. The President 
is elected for four years and is not immediately re-eligible. 
In case of serious illness or other cause obliging him to re- 
linquish his duties he calls to power one of the three per- 
sons appointed by Congress at the beginning of the presi- 
dential period and bearing each the title of Designado (Des- 
ignated).* 

The President of the Republic is elected by the same body 

* The present President, General Don Bernardo Soto, to whom the coun- 
try is largely indebted for its development during the last few years, has 
recently, for reasons of health, delivered up the power to the second Desig- 
nated, Don Ascension Esquivel, a jurisconsult whose reputation has passed 
the borders of Costa Eica. 



36 COSTA KICA. 

• 

who elect the Congress. He enjoys a sufficiently extensive 
power : the appointing of the Secretaries of State, of diplo- 
matic agents, and of all the employes of the Administration 
is for him, and for some years past he has joined to his du- 
ties the command in general of the army. This latter 
measure has given Costa Rica protection from the military 
revolutions so frequent in Spanish America. The President 
has the veto right, but limited. If Congress sustain by a 
two-thirds vote majority a law passed by it and met by veto 
of the Executive, the latter can no longer refuse his sanction. 

According to the budget for lS89-'90 the President, Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army, receives a monthly salary of 
nearly $1,500. There is, beside, assigned him a sum of 
$6,000 for outlay of representation, and the nation takes 
upon itself certain expenses of his household. 

The Secretaries of State, to whom the law, democratic to 
an extreme, perhaps, denies the title of Ministers, are at 
present four in number. Each one is in charge of several 
portfolios. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs is at the same 
time Secretary of Justice and Religious Matters ; the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury is also that of Commerce and Public 
Instruction. For a long time Costa Rica had but two Sec- 
retaries of State at the side of the President ; but the note- 
worthy development of the country during late years has 
rendered necessary a division of increased labor. Each Sec- 
retary of State presents annually to Congress a report in de- 
tail, showing the acts of the Administration in which he 
has taken part. The ministerial crises which arrive from 
time to time, as in all truly democratic countries, do not, as 
a general thing, affect the prosperous march of affairs. In 
any case they leave the vast majority of the population 
thoroughly indifferent. 

At the head of each province is a governor in direct rela- 
tion with the Executive power. The immediate agents of 
the governor are placed at the head of each canton. They 
are called 'political chiefs and their functions somewhat re- 
semble those of the 7)iaires in France. Beside the political 



THE INHABITANTS. 37 

chiefs and for the same territorial division there exists a mu- 
nicipality charged with purel}'' local interests. 

The organization of the tribunals is very simple, and jus- 
tice is rendered without great expense. The alcaldes are at 
the hierarchic-judiciary scale ; above them come the judges 
of the first instance, two courts of appeal, and one of cassation. 

These last three combined forrh the Supreme Court of Jus- 
tice, which has its seat at San Jose, and the members of 
which are appointed by Congress. The jury is established 
in the Republic and is composed of but seven members.* 

The present tendencies of the Government of Costa Rica 
do the greatest honor to the men who have been in power 
for the past few years. After a lapse of dictatorship covering 
the period from 1870 to 1882, the country seems to take fresh 
life in breathing the liberty wisely granted it by the latest 
presidents. 

After having contracted during the period to which we 
have just alluded an enormous interior and exterior debt, and 
having seen her credit almost completely exhausted, Costa 
Rica, given up to herself, has forced herself to meet honor- 
ably her obligations. Her present financial situation, as 
we shall see further on, is very satisfactory. The govern- 
ment economizes as far as it is compatible with the labors 
and improvements necessary to the progress of the country, 
giving especial attention to reform of old abuses, yet not 
neglecting any vital interest. The budget of Public Instruc- 
tion is augmented yearly ; all connected with the develop- 
ment of agriculture or industries is sure of substantial sup- 
port from the government. The forward march, but the 
march of wisdom without struggle, without the clashing of 
ideas — the march to the conquest of wealth and prosperity — 
this it is that characterizes as a whole the work of the Costa 
Rican Government. The few traditional abuses, moment- 
ary errors, vices even which have not yet entirely disap- 

* The best resume of the political institutions of Costa Rica is a little 
work (Instruccion Civica) by Don Ricardo Jimenez, a young lawyer of 
great talent and ex-minister. San Jose, 1888. 



38 COSTA RICA. 

peared, liave but secondary importance to the impartial ob- 
server wlio, comparing the j^resent witli the past, can thus 
foresee a happy luture. 

4. Public Life. — It is customary in Europe and the United 
States to consider the old countries of Spanish America as 
the lands par excellence for political struggles with arms 
and military revolutions. This opinion, unfortunately too 
true as regards many Spanish American republics, is, in 
reference to Costa Rica, absolutely false. Nothing could be 
more erroneous than the belief that from the da}^ of the 
proclamation of its independence began the era of pronuncia- 
mentos for the country. It is true that since 1821 the Presi- 
dents have not always legally succeeded one to another. 
There have certainly been struggles where force has overcome 
right ; some barracks revolutions are counted in the history 
of Costa Rica ; but one may, however, affirm in all justice 
that the country should rank in this respect far above many 
other young American republics. In an}^ case the great 
mass of the population, the country people, have never taken 
an active part in these passing agitations. Blood has never 
flowed on Costa Rican soil shed by fratricidal hands, save 
under such rare and exceptional circumstances that it were 
not worthy of mention. 

The political struggles of Costa Rica are characterized by 
their calmness. As there exist no clearly defined parties, 
the candidates are di'scussed as individuals. In San Jose 
and Cartago, it is true, at the approach of the time for the 
election of the President a number of ephemeral journals 
appear sufficiently bitter in polemics ; but the people do not 
care very much to talk politics and the elections always take 
place with order and quiet. 

The Foreign Relations have for some time merited highest 
praise. We have already cited, in speaking of the frontiers 
and the Nicaragua canal, the arbitrations to which Costa 
Rica has submitted her differences with her neighbors, 
Colombia and Nicaragua, instead of having recourse to 



THE INHABITANTS. 39 

arms — an example worthy of imitation. Work is also going 
on toward a realization, through pacific measures, of the 
union of all the Central American republics. A congress 
was held last year at San Jose, and a number of its decisions 
go to prove that an understanding between the five sister 
nations is not far off. Thus will have been obtained peace- 
fully that which the too famous General Barrios, the Guate- 
mala dictator, sought to achieve by force. 

The army is composed of all the citizens of the Republic, 
who owe military service between the age of 18 and 50 years- 
So says the law, but practically it is otherwise. Only the 
young men from the country are called, each in his turn, to 
pass two or three months in the cuartel, where they are given 
the rudiments of military instruction. This instruction is 
sufficient preparation for such guerrilla warfare as might 
enter Costa Rica if the country should ever cease to be in 
peaceful relations with its neighbors. Whatever upheavals 
may yet take place in Central America, Costa Rica will 
always be pretty safe from foreign invasions, thanks to her 
protected situation and the concentration of her population 
upon a plateau of difficult access and costing little to defend. 
The army proved its worth in 1856, in taking an active part 
in the expulsion of the Walker filibusters who had invaded 
and conquered the neighboring Republic of Nicaragua. 

In times of peace the number of soldiers of the standing 
army can be placed at 1,000. In case of interior revolution 
the armed force can be increased to 5,000 men, and in time 
of war Costa Rica can summon to arms from 20,000 to 30,000 
soldiers. 

The organization of the police has been given especial 
attention by the government. At present it is very satis- 
factory, particularly in the principal cities. The members 
of the force are not only remarkable for their activity and 
promptness at duty, but also for their admirable appearance 
and politeness. Personal safety is, besides, absolute in any 
part of the country. One can, without slightest danger, 
traverse alone and unarmed the most remote and isolated 
sections of the Republic. 



40 COSTA RICA. 

5. Public Instruction. — In no department has Costa Rica 
made greater progress of late years than in that of public 
instruction. It is but just to say that this progress is due 
above all to the untiring zeal of the Minister in charge dur- 
ing the past four years, Don Mauro Fernandez, whom all 
agree in recognizing as the real organizer of the country's 
educational system. 

In the budget destined for the year 1889-'O0, a budget 
amounting to a little over four million dollars, ^350,000 are 
apportioned to public instruction. This department is thus 
made to rank third in importance. 

Primary instruction is gratuitous and obligatory for all 
children between seven and fourteen years of age. It em- 
braces reading, writing, arithmetic, objective geometry, geog- 
raphy, national history, morals, civic instruction, singing, 
and gymnastics. Added to this programme is, for boys, 
military exercises, and for those in the country principles of 
agriculture ; for girls, needle-work and principles of domes- 
tic economy. 

The number of primary schools' is at present near 300, and 

they are attended by a total of 15,000 to 20,000 pupils. 

, These figures are all the more satisfactory that from the 

census of 1883 only 12 per cent, of the population of Costa 

Rica could read and write. 

To facilitate the administration of schools, the Republic 
is divided into especial districts corresponding as well as 
possible to the political divisions of cantons. The distribu- 
tion of the houses in some parts of the territory prevents 
some children from enjoying the benefits of primary instruc- 
tion. One can foresee, however, that twenty years from now 
the number of the illiterate will have decreased in vast pro- 
portion, and that they will constitute not the rule but the 
exception. 

About four years since the government founded a normal 
school in San Jose, for which it provided 50 scholarships. 
These are distributed among the various provinces and in- 
tended for poor and studious young people whose tastes lead 



THE INHABITANTS. 41 

them to adopt the profession of teachers. The normal school 
from humble beginnings has taken such progress that to-day 
it is .transformed into an academy where nearly 500 chil- 
dren receive primary and secondary instruction. The higher 
course, which embraces four years of study and from which 
the pupils are not graduated under 18 years of age, has three 
departments — classical, commercial, and normal. The acad- 
emy gives to those passing special examinations certificates 
equivalent to the degree of bachelor of other countries and 
corresponding to each of the three departments of which we 
have just spoken. Professors from Europe, especially engaged, 
have charge at present of the higher branches, but the gov- 
ernment sends a certain number of talented young Costa 
Ricans to study at the universities or schools of Switzerland, 
France, and Belgium, who will certainly one day enable 
their country to be independent of foreign lands in this re- 
spect. 

Various private institutes existed before the foundation of 
the academy ; these have disappeared and are replaced by 
a national institute at Alajuela and a private college at 
Cartago. Heredia also will soon have its higher educational 
institution. At San Jose there is a seminary under the im- 
mediate direction of the bishop. 

During this year will be witnessed at San Jose the com- 
pletion of the fine building intended for the Young Ladies' 
High School. The organization of this school is modeled 
on that of the academy, and includes a normal department 
which is well attended. There is also at San Jose a convent 
school conducted by the Sisters of Sion — foreigners. 

In 1844 there was founded at San Jose a higher educa- 
tional institution with the name of the University of St. 
Thomas. Especially designed for legal studies, this univer- 
sity was abolished during last year. It has been replaced 
by a School of Laiv, on a par with which will next be estab- 
lished other special schools, with a view to preparing young 
men for higher courses in foreign universities. 

The general intellectual culture of the country, we must 



42 COSTA RICA, 

add, has already arrived at a satisfactory point. From the 
press of the National Printing Office are issued excellent pub- 
lications : books intended for the schools ; collections of sta- 
tistics ; bulletins of the Physi co-Geographic Institute and the 
Museum ; journals of education ; pamphlets of utility to 
agriculturists ; legal annals, published by the society of law- 
yers, not to mention the official journal, the annual reports 
of different departments, and many other works. 

The press of the country is represented in ordinary times 
by live or six journals, nearly all of which are printed at 
San Jose and which devote as much space to literature as to 
politics. In election times, above all the presidential elec- 
tion, as we have already said, their number is considerably 
augmented ; but the existence of nearly all these fledgelings 
is but brief. 

The Costa Ricans are friends to the fine arts, and to music 
above all. There was at San Jose an old municipal theatre 
which the earthquake of December 30, 1888, greatly dam- 
aged; a new one is projected on the same site. Passing 
theatrical companies used to give vaudevilles and operettas 
there, and their receipts were always satisfactory. To-day 
the principal diversion of the people consists in going to the 
Central Park on Thursdays and Saturdays to hear the con- 
cert which is given there by the military band in the after- 
noon and repeated during the evening before the President's 
palace. A philharmonic society whose members meet two 
or three times a week gives concerts of vocal and instru- 
mental music from time to time. In nearl}'^ all the houses 
there are found pianos, which, touched by skillful fingers, 
enliven the evening reunions or tcrtulias and permit en- 
gaged couples to take a turn in the waltz under the watch- 
ful eye of the old folks, who discuss gravely the last market 
price of coffee or the trivial news of the day. 

6. Foreigners. — Article 12 of the constitution now in force 
says : 
" Foreigners enjoy, within the territory of the Nation, all 



THE INHABITANTS. 43 

" the civil rights of the citizen. They can prac tice their in- 
" dustries and conduct tlieir business, possess real estate, buy 
" and sell it, navigate along the coasts or in the rivers, practice 
" freely their religion, serve as witnesses, and marry accord - 
" ing to law. They are not obliged to become naturalized 
" or to pay forced and unreasonable contributions." * 

These privileges have always been faithfully granted, and 
foreigners have come in large numbers to Costa Rica, especially 
of late years. According to official statistics their number 
this year has reached 6,856 persons ; our own information, 
however, leads us to believe this figure a litte higher than 
is correct, and the true proportion is something like 1 for- 
eigner to every 25 inhabitants. The European colony most 
numerous is the Spanish, which counts from 700 to 800 ; after 
it come in importance the German, English, and French 
colonies, which are equal to that of the United States, and 
are composed of from 200 to 300 members, according to 
official statistics. The works of the Reventazon railway 
branch have been the cause of the temporary increase of 
some colonies. The Italians, for example, were found to 
number nearly 1,500 at one time during the past year ; the 
Jamaica negroes who have replaced them are very numerous 
to-day in the province of Cartago. The Nicaraguans and 
Colombians compose alone a quarter of the entire foreign 
population. 

That which in the first place attracts foreigners to the 
country is the excellent climacteric conditions which are 
found in Costa Rica — conditions which permit the Euro- 
pean and the American, as we have already said, to live 
without danger in almost any part of the country ; but the 
influx continues chiefly because of the decided protection of 
the government and the admirable welcome which inhabit- 
ants of all classes have always extended to the new elements 
which have come to establish themselves among them. 
Wiser than many of their too jealous sister countries over 

* Constitucion polltica de la Kepublica de Costa Kica, 1871. Tit. II, 
sec. 3, art. 12. 



44 COSTA RICA. 

the homogeneousness of their population, the little Republic 
has understood from its birth that it had only advantages 
to gain from the influx of the capital, the ideas, and the 
strong arms which were directed toward it. Instead of re- 
pulsing the stranger it welcomed him, considered him as a 
guest, and made it easier for him to establish his home. 
Many of the immigrants who came to Costa Rica fifty years 
ago are to-day the heads of large families, so assimilated to 
the nation which they have made their second fatherland 
that it is difficult to distinguish them from families of purely 
Costa Rican origin. 

The foreign ministers accredited in the Republic have 
ordinarily their residence in Guatemala and represent their 
various countries in all Central America. There are, how- 
ever, in San Jose official representatives of the United States, 
Germany, France, England, Spain, Italy, and the principal 
Republics of Central and South America. The Government 
of Costa Rica has always had amiable dealings with them 
in all questions pertaining to the interests of their respective 
citizens. 



CHAPTER III. 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 

1. Land.— The territory of Costa Hica possesses in every 
section a remarkable /eri^% of soil. A notable evidence of 
this is found in the central plateau, cultivated uninter- 
ruptedly in some places for centuries back, with neither 
restitution nor manuring of any sort, and, nevertheless, 
yielding remunerative harvests. Many species of trees take 
root with the greatest facility ; large branches cut and planted 
live and thrive without any care. The fences are, to begin 
with, nothing more than a row of stakes ; in a few months 
nature has covered them with leaves and young branches. 
The telegraph poles, generally consisting of the twisted 
trunks of trees, called in the country guachipelin, and whose 
wood is extremely hard, are not exempt from this puissance 
of vegetation. Although dry and charred or tarred over, 
the part meant to be sunk in the ground, they not infre- 
quently are seen with leafy crowns. 

The vast majority of lands are still of only the most recent 
cultivation ; and, indeed, in all probability the most of them 
were never previously cultivated, neither before nor after 
the conquest. With fertility is combined quality, as through- 
out all the zone— privileged in this respect— which encircles 
the earth between 10° south latitude and 15° north. This zone 
includes above all the region of the coffee : the territory of 
Mocha, Ceylon, Java, Manilla, Martinique— all countries 
celebrated not alone for their fertility, but for the excellence 
of their products. 

Almost everywhere in Costa Rica the land is found to 
have most favorable conditions for recompensing labor- 
admirably watered, drained by streams often navigable, and 
wooded with species of the most valuable and useful trees. 

(45) 



46 COSTA KICA. 

The composition is also varied. The alluvial lands of fer- 
ruginous clay and the silico-argilous lands predominate. 
All over the central plateau the vegetable stratum is of a 
remarkable depth. 

Nearly three-quarters of all the lands are as yet national 
property. Nevertheless, a very considerable part of them has 
already been taken for the benefit of the railroad, and 
another part specially reserved for the projected line to the 
north and for the Nicaragua canal. These conveyances 
consist of alternate sections, the government reserving one 
lot to every two. This measure is adopted in order to avoid 
the dangers of too large holdings by a single owner, often 
left for a long time unimproved to the hindrance of progress 
in general. 

The sale of national lands is controlled and the price 
determined by the law. The price is very low and the pur- 
chaser has ten years to pay for them, by paying an annual 
interest of G per cent. These privileges are causing the lands 
to diminish rapidly. The largest extent of lands which the 
law permits to be sold to one person is 500 hectares.* The 
acquisition of these lands makes of them definitive property ; 
however, those situated on both banks of navigable streams 
within a kilometre and a half from each side, and those near 
water-routes, within 750 feet, are governed by special regula- 
tions. They are given gratuitously in lots of 50 hectares on 
the banks of rivers and of 6 hectares on the banks of water- 
routes to the first occupant, and they remain his property 
as long as he lives upon and exploits them. If the land be 
abandoned for three years it returns to the government. All 
land improved and enclosed becomes the property of the 
person who has thus improved it, without his paying for it. 

The value of lands depends wholly upon their distances 
from centers and upon the great or less facility of transpor- 
tation of their products. It is thus to be foreseen that in the 
very near future, when the projected railroads and water- 

* 1 hectare = 2 acres, 1 rood, 3 perches. 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 47 

routes shall permit easy transportation, the land will increase 
enormously in value. This rise in worth will make itself 
felt particularly in regard to the most fertile plains of the 
north. 

The price of a hectare of forest — not cleared — of govern- 
ment land varies from three to five dollars, Costa Rica 
money. One can buy from private owners sections already 
cleared from $50 up. On the plateau central uncultivated 
land is worth at least $200, and that planted with coffee 
brings in some places as high as $1,500 per hectare ($700 
per acre). When one considers the comparatively short dis- 
tance from the coast and from the centers of population of 
the lands not yet cleared, one cannot avoid regarding them 
as worthy the attention of American and European capital- 
ists and laborers. The mission lands and those of the Chaco 
which the Argentine Government sells at the same price, 
are situated hundreds of leagues in the interior of the coun- 
try, and are probably not as good as those of Costa Rica. 

The laws governing property offer as complete security as 
that in Europe or America ; and, although the general sur- 
vey may not yet be finished, each individual estate is meas- 
ured with care and the plan of the same joined to the title 
of the property. The Fiscal Code published in 1885 gives 
the most complete information on this subject and will be 
consulted advantageously by all who are interested therein. 
The transmission of property is made the office of notaries 
public. There is a registry of sales and mortgages, which, 
as in Europe, gives full and satisfactory guarantee to the 
owner. 

There is no land tax. The owners are simply obliged to 
contribute to the keeping in order of roads which lead to 
and from their property. The registry taxes and for trans- 
ferring are very light. There is nothing to prevent or ob- 
struct the reselling or the so desirable division of estates. 

Large holdings are the rule in all parts remote from the 
centers, which are still almost wildernesses ; but where the 
population is thick the division is most frequent. There are 



48 COSTA RICA. 

very few families, even among the poor, who do not own 
their bit of land, and it is to this — it should be remarked in 
passing — to this general character of proprietors that is due 
the ease of the Costa Ricans and the calm and spirit of in- 
dustry and thrift which distinguish them among all Central 
American nations. 

2. Principal Cultures. — The principal cultures are few in 
number in Costa Rica. The}' msLV be reduced to four : the 
coffee, the sugar-cane, the corn, and the beans, which form 
the base of exportation and of general consumption. . 

The coffee, which is to-day the principal product of the 
countrv and which unquestionably forms its wealth, was not 
known in Costa Rica a century back. 

The first grains, brought from Havana,* were sown at 
Cartago at the close of the last century, and one may still 
see in that city the trunks, nearly centenarians, of the trees 
which furnished seeds for the entire country, and even for 
all Central America. The haciendas or plantations of coffee 
found in Nicaragua and Guatemala were, in truth, origi- 
nally the work of Costa Ricans. The propagation of the 
precious plant was accomplished slowly, despite the efforts 
of many enlightened persons, who foresaw the great devel- 
opment that this culture might one day attain to and the 
immense advantages that it would bring to the country'. It 
is only from the close of the year 1S40 that the plantations 
beo-an to be numerous, thanks, particularly, to the measures 
taken bv the government, which placed certain municipal 
lands for sale with the express condition that they be 
planted in coffee. In 1861 Costa Rica was exporting 100,000 
quintals t of coffee, and thenceforward its production has 
increased each year. To-day the entire plateau from Car- 



*The question of the introduction of the first coffee plants to Costa Rica 
has given rise to various controversies, which have but a purely historic in- 
terest. It is certain that this introduction dates back no further than a 
century. 

t Quintal = 100 pounds. 



LAND AXD CULTITATIOX. 49 

tago to Alajuela is covered with plantations of magnificent 
aspect in all seasons, but especially so in April, when the 
branches are covered with their white and delicately fra- 
grant flowers, or in December, when the cherry-red berries 
shine among the dark green leaves. 

It is only at the end of the fourth year that the tree has 
reached a height of about six feet and is in full production. 
The planting is done in a nursery, and when the trees are 
a year old they are transplanted to the place they are to 
occupy permanently. The young trees are usually arranged 
in long rows, and succeed one to another at a distance of 
from a yard and a half to two yards. The plantation in 
quincunx is rare. Between the plants are set banana trees, 
whose large leaves protect the coffee from the sun while it 
is yet young. These banana trees, which are cut eveiy vear. 
are, besides, the only improving that is given the soil. For 
some time past various planters have sought to increase their 
harvests by covering their lands T\dth guano ; however sat- 
isfactory the results may have been, the use of this fertilizer, 
which is expensive in Costa Rica, has not become general. 

Besides the bananas, the coffee plantations enclose usually 
along their principal paths or rising out of the midst of the 
coffee, larger trees, aguacates, figs, oranges, anonas, giving the 
plateau central afar off the aspect of a vast orchard of ever- 
lasting greenness, for the few species of trees in Costa Rica 
that shed their leaves annually replace them immediately. 

The coffee culture demands almost continuous labor during 
the entire year. The fertility of the soil causes weeds to 
spring up m such quantities that one has hardly done weed- 
ing a place when he must begin over again. This clearing 
is done with the shovel and machete, which mak^ it verv 
tedious and expensive. On the slopes, and one finds many 
of these on the plateau, which has many deep cuts, the tor- 
rents which sometimes fall during the rainy season carry 
away a great deal of earth. It is necessary, therefore, to 
recover the half-laid-bare roots of the trees quite often- 
Then one is obliged to scrape the trunk and branches of the 
4 



50 COSTA RICA. 

trees, which become so covered with licliens and mosses that 
the trees would die from them. Finally, all the plants are 
visited after each harvest and all their dry branches carefully 
pruned. There is, fortunately, no ailment peculiar to the 
coffee tree known in Costa Rica. A few isolated cases have 
been known of loss after the leaves turning yellow and fall- 
ing, but the plant is ordinarily healthy and vigorous in all 
localities. 

The cofiee cultivated in Costa Rica is not of any one 
particular species. Beside the ordinary kind, one finds a 
species peculiar to the country and characterized by a shorter- 
appearing stalk, denser branches, and a more compact ag- 
glomeration of fruit upon the branches. One gives this 
species the name San Ramon coffee* Despite its fine appear- 
ance, the San Ramon coffee is not generally cultivated. 
There has also been introduced during late years a species 
called Liberia coffee. The experiments have not given thus 
far satisfactory results. On the plateau this coffee pro- 
duces ripe berries all the year round, which is a great incon- 
venience, since the harvesting cannot be done at a fixed time. 
Possibly, cultivated in warmer parts of the country, the Li- 
beria coffee would produce more and its fruit all ripen at a 
fixed time. Experiments are begun, and in a few years will 
have been ascertained what advantages will accrue from the 
introduction of this species into Costa Rica. 

The harveM of the coffee is begun at the beginning of the 
dry season and lasts from December to March usually. Some 
years the ripening of some of the berries is more rapid than 
that of others, and a second gathering is necessary. The 
women and children are entrusted with this labor. It is 
sometimes wearisome, for the berries hardly ripe fall to the 
ground and one must pick them up by going on his hands 
and knees. The berries which remain on the trees are gath- 
ered without any great trouble. These, however, should be 
necessary, for the buds appear on the branches almost im- 

* San Ramon is a place of some importance at the northeast of the plateau. 



LA>'D AND CULTIVATION. 51 

mediately after the ripening of the berries, and in picking 
the latter by handful.? one destroys a part of the next year's 
crop. It is unfortunately impossible to pay the laborers by 
the day, for the harvesting should be done promptly in order 
that the preparation — the drying and the placing in sacks, 
of which we shall speak further on — should be effected before 
the return of the rainy season. It is especially during the 
season of the coffee harvest that the lack of labor is felt in 
Costa Rica. 

In order to judge of the amount of work performed by the 
women and children at their task they are given a basket 
that will hold 18 to 20 litres (15 to 18 quarts), to fill which 
they are paid a real {12^ cents, American money ; six pence, 
English). A good worker can fill her basket firom 8 to 10 
times in the day. 

The production of coffee varies naturally according to the 
lands. It is estimated, however, that a tree in good condi- 
tion should give a pound and a half of dry coffee. A hectare 
(2 acres) of very fertile land will produce as much as 50 
quintals (5,000 pounds) of coffee in the sack ; the average 
production is 18 to 20 quintals. The production is naturally 
subject to the chances of harvest. It is seldom that two 
good years come successively : nevertheless, the figures are 
very satisfactory for all the late harvests. 

In 1887 the production was 261,638 quintals, representing 
a value of 85,231,766, and for 1886, 282,814 quintals were 
gathered, amounting to 85,656,892.* 

The price of coffee continues to rise every year. In 1884 
it was at SIO per quintal (of 92 pounds); in 1885, S12.50 ; in 
1887 we find it quoted at SI 8, and last year as high as S20 
and S22 were paid. This rise proceeds from various causes. 
First place, there is the high price which Costa Rica coffee 
has reached on the European market, the English market 

* These figures differ a little from those given bv the Anuario Estadistica, 
which allows 100 pounds to the quintal — 100 Spanish pounds, whose weight 
is only equivalent to 46 kilogrammes. The dollar is the paper dollar, worth 
about 70 cents, American monev. 



52 COSTA RICA. 

in particular, a price due as much to the recognized excel- 
lence of the product as to the considerable diminution of the 
harvest in Brazil of late years. Then there must also be 
considered the vast difference in exchange which of late has 
come about in Costa Rica, Avhere gold is at a premium of 50 
per cent, over the money of the country', while formerly it 
brought but 12 per cent, to 15 per cent. 

The dollar which to-day is worth but 05 to 70 cents, Amer- 
ican money, was then worth 85 to 88 cents. In making a 
note of this difference in exchange, it must still be admitted 
that the price of coffee has risen by a third within five years. 
The entire country has felt this increase in the value of its 
principal product of exportation, and its vast progress of late 
should be attributed in great proportion to this sudden 
augmentation of wealth. 

Next to coffee the principal culture of Costa Rica is that 
of the sugar-cane. It is cultivated from the coasts to the 
plateau. However, like the coffee, it does not go above the 
altitude of 4,000 to 4,500 feet. Its products do not figure in 
the table of exportations. They are all consumed at home. 
The sugar-cane is employed for various purposes. There 
are as yet no sugar refineries in the country. Several well- 
appointed and important fiictories make turbinated sugar 
and sugar in powder, the consumption of wliich does not go 
outside the towns. The country people prefer the coarse 
sugar, which is nothing more than the juice of the cane 
thickened and defecated, which is sold in cakes of different 
sizes, and whose dirty color is hardly agreeable to the eye. 
This is called dulce. This same duke is used to make the 
brandy of the country, aguardiente or guaro, which the gov- 
ernment distills at a national factory located at San Jose, and 
of which it has made the sale a monopoly. Finally, the 
sugar-cane is used to feed the cattle, the draught oxen espe- 
cially, who have no other food on their long journeys from 
the plateau central to Carrillo or to Esparta, the inland ter- 
minus of the railroad coming from Limon or from Punta- 
renas. 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 53 

There may be counted in all the Republic about 5,000 
hectares (10,000 acres) of land planted in sugar-cane. These 
5,000 hectares produced in 1888 11,000 quintals of sugar, 
worth $143,952, and 123,324 quintals of dulce, estimated at 
$1,340,280. 

Corn grows very well all over the Republic, and fields 
(milpas) of it in flourishing condition are found to the alti- 
tude of 5,500 feet. It is one of the principal foods of the 
Costa Ricans. To prepare it they grind it between stones — 
after having boiled it in a solution of lime or lye of wood- 
ashes — between stones until it is reduced to a paste. Out of 
this paste they make round, thin cakes, which they cook 
very quickly by placing them for a few moments on the fire. 
Thus is obtained the famous tortilla, which serves as bread 
for all the country people, and which many of the city peo- 
ple think they cannot do without. The corn is also fed to 
horses and mules. 

From 445,818 litres* sowed in 1888 were gathered through- 
out the entire country 29,522,570, giving a return of 55 to 1. 
In several cantons this was even considerably exceeded. 

Finally, we consider the heans as a principal culture in 
Costa Rica, because with the corn they form the main food 
of the people. They are little black beans, known in the 
country as Jrijoles. The frijoles are served on all tables, 
those of the richest as well as those of the poorest, at break- 
fast time. They are cultivated by themselves on dry lands, 
sometimes in the midst of cornfields and very often upon 
land that has just been cleared of forests by burning, and 
which is still encumbered with half-charred trunks of trees. 

195,853 litres of beans sowed during the past year pro- 
duced 3,682,547, vsomething like 19 to 1. 

3. Special Cultures. — Beside her principal cultures, Costa 
Rica has also a certain number of special cultures whose 
importance is not to be disregarded. By special cultures we 

*llitre = 1.76 pint. 



54 COSTA RICA. 

mean those which are not generally distributed throughout 
the country and the products of which enter but slightly 
into either the exportation or the general consumption. 

The culture of bananas on a large scale is only known of 
late in Costa Rica. In 1880 the first 3G0 bunches were sent 
to the United States ; in 1884, 425,000 bunches were gath- 
ered, and in 18S8 the production reached 896,245 bunches, 
representing a value of |537,747. 

This culture is mostly confined to the semi-2)rovince of 
Limon, in the marshy regions known as the plains of Santa 
Clara, Mdiich are traversed by the Carrillo branch of the rail- 
way. Ever}^ week steamers leave Limon loaded with ba- 
nanas, which they carry to either New Orleans or New York. 
In these markets a fruit which is hardly known in Europe 
becomes dail}'- of greater importance. Unfortunately the 
lands on the Atlantic coast, so excellently adapted for the 
banana culture, are not healthful. The mortality has al- 
ways been great among the plantation hands. The negroes 
appear best to resist the climate of Santa Clara, and they are 
very numerous in this part of the countr}'-, while in other 
parts they are rarely seen. 

We have said previously that the banana is found in all 
the coffee plantations. The various species produced on the 
plateau central are used for general consumption ; they are 
eaten boiled while green, or fried when ripe. We may also 
observe that vinegar is made from them, and that it were 
well worth the experiment at extracting sugar and starch 
from them. The bananas would also produce brandy of 
better quality than the duke and to greater advantage, bjit 
the laws of the country prohibit this manufacture. 

The cacao of Costa Rica has not to-day the importance it 
formerly had, although it is still cultivated on the Atlantic 
coast and on the plains of San Carlos. It is of excellent 
quality, especially that of Matina, in the semi-province of 
Limon, which has a reputation rivaling that of the famous 
Mexican Soconusco cacaos. With a view to encourage the 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 55 

development of the culture of so valuable a product, the 
government has lately awarded premiums of $4,000 and 
$5,000 to the proprietors of the best plantations. This en- 
couragement to labor and this protection of agriculture, of 
which further on will be seen other examples, have not 
failed to affect and augment the production of cacao in the 
country. The harvest of 1888 was nearly 3,000 quintals, 
the value of which is estimated at $165,770. The most of 
the cacao is consumed at home, and more is imported from 
Ecuador and Colombia, although of relatively inferior 
qualit}'. 

Cereals are not cultivated in Costa Rica as they might be. 
Rice, however, is harvested in all the provinces except those 
of Heredia and Limon. The kind that is known in Costa 
Rica grows very well on the dry lands and needs not to be 
submerged or even irrigated. In 1888, 72,564 litres of rice 
were sown, which produced 1,975,998, the reaping being 
thus 27 to 1. This reaping is considerably higher in all the 
warm regions. The rice of the country is consumed with- 
out being refined ; it is on this account less white than and 
not of as good appearance as the imported rice, which, how- 
ever, is less nutritious. 

The culture of ivheat, once quite important, is to-day 
almost abandoned. The provinces of Heredia and Alajuela 
alone cultivate it in small quantities by no means sufficient 
for the consumption of the country. Flour is imported, 
chiefly from California, at a low price, which tends to dis- 
courage the wheat culture, particularly as coffee brings such 
a high price. The culture of the latter under the circum- 
stances has become much more remunerative. It would be 
a good thing for the government to encourage the wheat 
culture by premiums similar to those which it has awarded 
to cacao proprietors. The vast consumption of corn, which 
is hardly conducive to perfect health, could thus be replaced 
by the consumption of wheat. 

Among the farinaceous roots should be mentioned the 
sweet manioca (Manipot Aijji), which is called yuca through- 



56 COSTA KICA. 

out the country, and which is eaten boiled. Starch is made 
from it as well. The real manioc (Jatropha maiiipot), so 
common in South America and from which tapioca is made, 
is not known in the country. The yam and the sweet potato 
are usually cultivated on the coasts, but they thrive also 
very well on the plateau. The farinaceous and sweet root 
of a species of an aroidee, wliich is called tiqaisqne in the 
country (Colocasia Esculenta), is eaten and a number of other 
roots, such as those of the chayote, more delicate than the 
yiica, the arracachos, somewhat resembling potatoes in taste, 
etc., etc. 

The real potato is cultivated principally in the province 
of Cartago on the hillsides, where it is a little cooler than in 
the rest of of the Irazii country. Its ^jroduction is fair as to 
quantity, while the quality is excellent. It is a remunerative 
culture when one considers the high price paid in the mar- 
ket. During the past year 1,681,477 litres were gathered 
almost entirely in the province we have just mentioned. 
The potato culture will necessarily assume greater impor- 
tance on the conclusion of the Reventazon branch of the rail- 
way, for the valuable tubercle cannot fail to become a pro- 
duct for exportation to Colombia and neighboring States. 
where the tropical climate renders its culture impossible. 

The edible fruits are not objects of special culture in the 
country. Everywhere among the plantations are found the 
principal ones : oranges, limes, peaches, figs,^ quinces, pome- 
granates. All fruits imported from Europe thrive on the 
plateau, ximong indigenous fruits, or of tropical origin, w'e 
find pine-apples, aguacates, anonas, sapotcs, papaws, jocotes, 
mangle, grenadilla, cocoanut, the fruits of several palms, those 
of two cacti, and a host of others of less importance. Among 
other products serving as food w^e may mention the tomato, 
egg-plant, pimento, and the fruits of various cucurbitacese 
{water-melon, ayote, chayote, zapayote). 

* The peaches and figs, although abundant, are of a very inferior quality ; 
and, curiously enough, they are only consumed green. It is almost im- 
possible to obtain them ripe. 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 57 

4. New Cultures. — The cultures which we have thus far con- 
sidered are not the only ones from which it is possible to reap 
excellent results in Costa Rica. Many others could certainly 
be introduced with success into the country. Various natural 
products are deserving of a special and careful culture, which 
in improving them would be achieving great triumphs. 
Trials have been made up to the present time, but without fully 
complete results. These trials have, nevertheless, proven 
that which it was easy to foresee for a country presenting 
such diversity of zones, that nearly all known cultures are 
possible in Costa Rica. In order to systematize these at- 
tempts and to profit by them practically the government 
has very recently decided to create a school of agriculture, or 
an experimental ground and garden of acclimatization, which 
will enable to be obtained not only the improvement of cult- 
ures already existing, but also the certain appreciation of 
the best new cultures. Work upon the new institution is 
already begun, and a corps of professors, who have studied 
in the best schools of agriculture of Belgium and Switzer- 
land, will soon be occupied with their labors. The follow- 
ing are the cultures which are the most likely to be intro- 
duced ere long into the country. They have all been either 
already attempted or deserve well to be : 

The vine is at present the object of the government's espe- 
cial solicitude, as well as of all persons interested in new 
cultures. For a long time there have existed in the country 
several small graperies, which have borne fruit yearly. The 
acclimatization has lately been attempted of a quantity of 
California vine stock in the immediate vicinity of San Jose. 
It remains to be seen if this attempt will produce good re- 
sults. It is our opinion that the trials should be made not 
on the plateau central, but on the well-exposed slopes of the 
volcanic cordillera or on the sides of the mountains, of cal- 
careous formation, which compose the southern chains. On 
the argilous plains the products can never be other than of 
inferior quality. It is probable that in a few years the va- 
rious questions relating to the culture of the vine, such as 



58 COSTA RICA. 

the time for cutting, the mode of culture, and the choice of 
hind, will be successfully decided. It may be observed that 
during the period of Spanish dominion the culture of the 
vine was prohibited. 

Spices would doubtless succeed in Costa Rica. As we have 
already noted, the country lies in nearly the same latitude 
as the Moluccas, Ceylon, the Netherland Indies — countries 
which have had, so to speak, up to the present time the mo- 
nopoly of tliis production. A species of pepper-plant is cul- 
tivated in the country, the Jamaica pimento, known in 
Europe as the allspice, and an attempt has been made to 
introduce the cinnamon. The nutmeg and the clove are easily 
acclimatized. 

Vanilla grows wild in the virgin forests of the hot lands. 
Any one aware of the high price this product brings in the 
market cannot help thinking that its culture might well 
repay any one undertaking it. 

Tobacco was formerl}'- cultivated some distance from San 
Jose, in the hills separating that cit}^ from Cartago. It was 
of excellent quality. Unfortunately the introduction of the 
monopoly of its sale has caused the culture to be prohibited. 
Only foreign tobaccos are smoked in the Republic to-day, 
imported mostly from the neighboring Republics, from San 
Salvador especially. There is, nevertheless, good reason to 
believe that soon or late the government will be able to ad- 
just its pecuniary necessities with the interests of the pro- 
prietors, and that the source of wealth which would certainly 
proceed from the tobacco culture is not closed forever. 

The indigo is easily cultivated and abundant on the Pa- 
cific coast. There is no great profit derived from it at present. 
The culture of dye-plants has lost its importance with the 
daily increasing competition of mineral colors. A gardener 
who would apply himself strictly to the raising of vegetables 
would be certain of finding himself amply rewarded, for up 
to the present time there exist only a few kitchen gardens in 
the vicinity of San Jose, and the products of these are neither 
varied nor abundant. The few horticulturists who have 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 59 

established themselves in the country have always done well, 
for the people are fond of flowers. Better earth could not be 
found for these to bloom in, and with the aid of certain irri- 
gation methods they could continue to blossom unceasingly 
the year round. 

The sweet manioc, as we have already said, is thus far the 
only plant cultivated from an industrial point of view. 
Starch of good quality is obtained from it. Not to prolong 
indefinitely this list of products whose culture to a state of 
perfection is desirable, we limit ourselves to remark in addi- 
tion that one could with excellent chances of success under- 
take plantations of ricinus, sesame, arachides, olives, and cocoa 
for the production of oil ; of musa textilis, aloes, ramie, Mexi- 
can ixtle, cotton, mulberry,* and a great number of excellent 
indigenous fibrous plants for the production of textile fibres. 
Various experiments have been made in this line, which 
have already given very satisfactory results. The culture 
on a large scale and the manufacture of home products are 
not as yet arrived at, chiefly because of the scarcity of labor. 
It is probable, however, that by degrees the population will 
cease to confine itself to the coffee culture, and that in a few 
years a host of new products will occupy important places 
in the statistics of exportation. 

We may add still further that the introduction of the tea 
culture into the country would not onl}^ be desirable but 
would produce most remunerative results. 

5. Natural Wealth of Forest and Field. — The natural vege- 
table wealth of Costa Rica is so vast and, as yet, has been so 
little studied that it is difficult for us to give other than a 
cursory glance at it. It is only in the future, when the spe- 
cies shall have been determined and become better known, 
and when one will be edified with the actual value of their 
products, that it will be possible to prepare a catalogue of 

*The silk- worm thrives in Costa Kica. It was to be seen in perfect con- 
dition in the National Exposition of 1886. 



60 COSTA KIC'A. 

this as yet almost unexploited wealth. For the present we 
confine ourselves to the following points : 

As in all the countries of Central and South America, the 
woods of Costa Rica are one of the chief sources of natural 
wealth. Up to the present time, they have not been ex- 
ploited, except to a very limited extent and only in the 
provinces lying near the sea-ports. There is a lack of defi- 
nite knowledge concerning them, and the diversity of names 
given them, according to the various provinces, still further 
increases the confusion. However it may be, the various 
private collections made of the country's woods, as well as 
the curious marquetry which has been exhibited abroad, 
have always been admired by connoisseurs. Among the 
principal species we may cite of woods for cabinet-making : 
mahogany, hitter cedar (cedrela), and fragrant cedar, used in 
Europe, one for cigar-boxes, the other for pencils; guaiac 
(lignum-vitse), cocobola, granadilla, lloron, mora, quizarra, 
Cortez (Tecoma), rouron, rosewood, etc. Of timber for build- 
ing : The male cedar (cedrela), chirraca, madera negra, jaul, a 
kind of alder ; nnambar, different kinds of oak, guachipelin, 
ira of two kinds, guaitil, laurel, zapotillo, guanacaste (enterolo- 
bium), nispero (Hymenea), corteza amarilla, or corteza de 
venado, imperishable wood ; quiebrahacha, hard as iron ; roble 
(Tecoma), etc., etc. 

We may also mention among plants which furnish build- 
ing material the canna blanca, which is used chiefly in the 
roofs of houses covered with tiles, and of wdiich are made the 
braces of bahajeque of which we have spoken. All the bam- 
boos grow finely in Costa Rica ; it is to be regretted that they 
are not exploited, certain of them being unrivalled for light 
constructions. 

The textile plants, natives of the country, are numerous 
and produce valuable fibres. The principal are the cabulla, 
the pita, and the pinuela. The cabulla (Agave sisalana) is 
called sosquil or liennequen in Yucatan ; in Europe, chanvre 
de Sisol or grass hemp. In Yucatan the commerce of the 
fibres of this textile plant amounts annually to a million 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 61 

dollars. This product, with the simple decorticating ma- 
chine,* invented by M. Berthet, could become the object of 
an important industry. It is calculated that a thousand 
leaves produce nearly 40 kilos (88 pounds) of dry tow. In 
Costa Rica the cabuUa is employed only to make ropes or 
very coarse fabrics. The pita (Bromelia pita) enters into the 
manufacture of ordinary hats. The pinuela (Bromelia 
pifiuela), very common in the country, is hardly used at the 
present time except for fences. 

The coir or hairy bark of the cocoa tree, which is in such 
great demand for the manufacture of cordage, brushes, mats, 
etc., is not exploited in Costa Rica, abounding as it does. The 
bombax, whose seeds are covered with down, is frequently 
seen. 

The native industry makes use of a species of rush, of fibres 
of small value which are found in the thick leaves of the 
Yuca, and of a quantity of flexible bind-weeds and fibrous 
barks. The liber of the mastate, for instance, is cut into 
thongs capable of supporting very heavy burdens. 

We have spoken above of the textile plants whose intro- 
duction is already the object of experiment or would be de- 
sirable for the countr}^ We may add that the fibre of the 
banana tree could be most advantageously employed in the 
manufacture of ropes and of paper, although at present it is 
not used at all for this purpose. We may further mention 
the New Zealand flax {pliormiurti tenax) and the jute (G. 
Corchorus). This last-named is well suited to manufacture 
sacks, and its production per hectare is five times as great as 
that of the fiax in Europe. f The hibiscus abounds in Costa 
Rica. In the Indies there is obtained from it the fibre which 
in Euro]De is called sunn.X In Salvador the natives take the 
leaves of the cibotium, a fern common to all Central America, 
and make from it an admirable kind of vegetable wool. An 

* See Report on the Machine for Decorticating Agaves of Mr. Berthet, by 
E. Saladin. Bulletin of the Eouen Industrial Society, vol. IX, p. 332. 
f Introduction to London in 1880: 31 millions of kilogrammes. 
\ Importation to London : 13 millions of Kilogrammes. 



62 COSTA RICA. 

industry to be created in the country, where the so-called 
Panama liats are as yet almost the principal head-covering, 
is the manufacture of tlicse hats. Tlie plant which .sui)plies 
the raw material is in Ecuador the Carludovica palmata. 
The leaf of it is split in narrow strips, which are dried in the 
sun. These strips, under the action of the heat, roll up on 
both edges and form round straws. It only remains to bleach 
and to weave them. 

The dye-plants, as w^e have already observed, decrease con- 
stantly in value, in proportion as the mineral colors may be 
had at lower prices. Nevertheless, a few will always deserve 
to be cultivated, and will amply recompense those who de- 
vote attention to them. 

There is found in Costa Rica the annotto, which is used in 
coloring all kinds of food, while in Europe it is employed to 
color butter and cheese ; the curcuma (root resembling ginger), 
the indigo, various caesalpinia (one of which supplies the 
famous Brazil wood), the dragonnier, the mora, etc. The 
indigo of Central America is of a superior qualit}^ and brings 
a high price in all markets. The native industry utilizes 
the coloring properties of a great number of other plants 
which have no commercial value. 

Medicinal plants abound in all parts of the country. Among 
them we must mention the castor bean, the croton, the cassia, 
the sarsaparilla, the ipecacuana, the ginger, the rhubarb, the 
tamarind, the papaw, the licorice, not to speak of a host of 
others which might well attract the attention of apothecary- 
chemists. To observe them employed in the country with 
the greatest success, one could not doubt their curative vir- 
tues. There are also found various trees, which are called 
quinquinas falsas, whose bark contains cinchona. The real 
quinquinas would probably grow in the country, but the 
immense plantations of the Indies have so overloaded the 
market that this culture is no longer remunerative. 

Essences and various precious products for perfumery pur- 
poses could be obtained from a great number of very common 
plants. The whorl-flowered, bent grass abounds. There are 



LAND AND CULTIVATION. 63 

found also the jasmine, the schoenanthe, the storax, the sandal- 
wood, the Tonquin bean, the ivild vanilla, not counting the 
various products of the orange family, well represented from 
the sweet orange to the lemon and citron. As a rule, the 
odoriferous flowers, such as the vervain, heliotrope, tube- 
rose, etc., have much more fragrance in the country of which 
we write than in Europe. Their exploitation could not, 
therefore, fail to prove advantageous. 

The India rubber gathered in the Costa Rica forests is ob- 
tained from the CastiUoa ekistica. Although we class this 
tree among natural products, we should remark that of late 
years plantations have been begun in various sections of the 
country, principally on the Atlantic coast and in the San 
Carlos region. The government has encouraged the culture 
with premiums of large amounts. This is a matter for con- 
gratulation, since the ordinary method of taking the rubber 
not infrequently results in the complete destruction of the 
tree. The amount of the exportation for 1888 did not reach 
$12,000. 

There are found in the forests of the country a vast num- 
ber of trees and plants producing large quantities of resin, 
the greater part of which are absolutely unknown. Several 
species of quiebrahacha produce a gum similar to gum-arabic ; 
the copal resin is abundant everywhere in the lowlands of 
the north, but is not exploited. 

On the Pacific littoral there has recently been discovered 
in great abundance myroxylum of various kinds, which yield 
the well-known balsams of Peru and Tolu. The first of these 
two balsams particularly is considered valuable and suggests 
the odor of vanilla. Up to the present time it has been ob- 
tained exclusively from San Salvador. 

Many trees have latex rich in gutta-percha, particularly 
several species of higueron (ficus), the mastate and the sapote. 

This brief review of the natural wealth of Costa Rica will 
suffice to show what a vast field the country provides for 
foreign enterprise, intelligence, and capital. 



CHAPTER IV. 



INDUSTRIES. 

1. Agricultural Industri/. — The cattle of Costa Rica are not 
sufficient for the country's requirements. Herds arrive con- 
stantly from Nicaragua and Colombia, intended, as a rule, 
for consumption. Over 25,000 head are slaughtered an- 
nually ; the province of San Jose consumes fully one-third 
of the total. The live-stock statistics for the past year fur- 
nish the following : 262,596 horned animals, 50,738 horses, 
and 2,125 sheep. 

The oxen, as a rule, are remarkable for their size and 
handsome appearance. Destined for the hardest work, chiefly 
the carting of coffee and merchandise from the plateau to 
the coast and vice versa, they appear well fitted to the serv- 
ices required of them. They are not of any particular breed, 
and offer a great variety of hides. Having great strength, 
they endure exposure and are satisfied with a not always 
substantial diet, of which sugar-cane cut up in short lengths 
forms the principal part. A yoke of ordinary oxen are 
worth $120 to S140 ; the price of these animals has risen, 
however, of late years, and a good ox team can be sold for 
$170. The usual price of animals from three to four years 
old, which are imported from Nicaragua or Colombia, varies 
from $30 to $10. They are fattened in the countr}' before 
being sent to the abattoir. The native cows are very much 
degenerated, principally from lack of care. One cannot tell 
what breed they belong to, all the original breeds being mixed 
by most irregular crossing. They remain the year round 
in pasturage, and they do not give a quarter of the milk 
that might be obtained from them if they were 'properly 
cared for and fed. The calves are never separated from their 
mothers, and the cows are seldom milked more than once a 

(64) 



INDUSTRIES. 65 

day. What is more, the bulls and the cows are left the year 
round in the same pasture. From this it results that young 
heifers are found with calf before they have the necessary 
strength for normal gestation, and that their young are nat- 
urally weak. It may be added that the prairies, as a rule, 
have no great variet}^ of fodder, and are especiall}'' lacking 
in leguminous plants, and that no supj)lementary fodder is 
supplied for the cows, not even at the time of milking. The 
poor results thus far need hardly other explanation. 

To be strictly just, we must add that the errors and de- 
ficiencies which we have just alluded to are recognized by 
the greater part of the large owners, and that the latter are 
occuj)ied to-day in the serious consideration of remedying 
the evils. The government, for its part, has wished to en- 
courage the numerous attempts at imj)roving the breeds of 
cattle which have been made during the past few years. 
Besides having itself introduced various foreign breeds, it 
has protected the importation of blooded animals by paying 
the sea freight upon them for the farmers who have bought 
them in the United States or Europe. 

Thanks to these measures, a considerable number of head 
of foreign blooded cattle may be counted to-day in Costa 
Rica. With good care and intelligent crossing, these ani- 
mals will certainly improve the native breed. 

As regards ignorance of the true principles of stock-breed- 
ing, the school of agriculture which we have already men- 
tioned will probably succeed in correcting this, by turning 
out good pupils and organizing meetings to which the agri- 
culturists will be invited. The Costa Rica farmer is less set 
in his ways than others of his class in other countries.* He 

* We may adduce, in proof of our assertion, one circumstance in particu- 
lar. In the very poorest habitations throughout the country the foreigner 
finds, to his astonishment, the sewing-machine. A people so quick to com- 
prehend the utility of this machine would certainly be prompt to seize upon 
the advantages of other machines which would simplify their labor in cul- 
tivating their lands and take the place of hands, the scarcity of which is a 
serious drawback. 



GO COSTA RICA. 

will certainly see very quickly that there are only advan- 
tages to be derived in altering his present methods. He will 
clioose new ways all the more quickly, as the breeding of 
and t lading in live stock are considered very paying in the 
countr}'. 

The price of an ordinary cow is from $30 to $80. Young 
animals of foreign breeds recently brought into the country 
bring exceedingly high prices. For a bull of from a year 
to eighteen months $300 to $400 are paid.* 

Butcher's meat is high. Its quality might be better, and 
its unsavory taste comes from the animal's watery and 
hardly varied diet. The fillet costs 25 cents per pound, ordi- 
nary meat about 20 cents ; and the common people, those 
who eat meat every day, have to pay 10 to 15 cents for 
pieces which are not choice. It is almost impossible to ob- 
tain other meat than beef or pork ; the calves are never 
killed, and mutton is rarely to be had. 

The dairy products in Costa Rica give evidence of the in- 
sufficiency of implements and lack of knowledge how to 
manufacture tliem. The dairy industry is as yet in its in- 
fancy, but it would certainly bring wealth to any one under- 
taking it with proper knowledge. It is not always easy to 
obtain milk at San Jose, and that which is brought from the 
country farms in tin cans might be better in man}^ respects. 
Without returning to the question of fodder, which we have 
touched upon above, we may remark that the present mode 
of transportation is very poor. The cans are hung on either 
side of the saddle on the back of a mule or an old horse, 
which is ridden by a boy, and the milk is delivered to the 
consumer after having been shaken up violently for several 
hours. The farms lack cellars besides, which are absolutely 



*The principal bload introduced thus far to improve the native breeds is 
the Durham, Jersey, and Dutch. There are also a number of head of Swiss 
cattle of the Schuytz breed, which have all not come direct, but many of 
which have been brou(;ht from the United States. 



INDUSTRIES. '67 

necessary, in view of the general temperature, in order to 
keep the milk fresh twenty-four hours. 

Excellent hutter is made, nevertheless, in' some of the prov- 
inces ; in Cartago principally, where the climate is cooler 
than in other parts of the country. Only the price of this 
butter is beyond the reach of moderate purses ; it sells at a 
dollar a pound. For this reason there is a great deal of im- 
ported butter consumed in Costa Rica. This comes in cans 
and is usually adulterated with margarine. Despite its often 
disagreeable taste, the latter, thanks to the difference in 
price — nearly 50 per cent. — offers decided competition to the 
native butter.* 

The only cheese that is made in Costa Rica is a cheese or 
curds without pressure and of insipid taste. Various recent 
experiments have proven, nevertheless, that the manufacture 
of a good cheese not only is possible but would be very prof- 
itable, especially so for the farms situated at some distance 
from the towns, where the milk is often lost for lack of being 
able to sell it or of knowing how to utilize it. 

Hides are an article in commerce whose figures reach to a 
hundred thousand dollars. As yet the horns and hoofs are 
not utilized, nor are the bones, which properly rendered 
could be turned to account for fertilizing purposes. 

The breeding of horses is progressing, but still rather 
slowly. The horses of the country are of no especial char- 
acter or breed, excepting, possibly, certain lean-looking little 
beasts which are really very strong and incomparable for 
the mountain roads. The heavy mud during the invierno, 
or rainy season, does not permit of horses being used as 
draught animals ; they are then employed exclusively with 
the saddle or as beasts of burden. The mules compete with 
them, but the native horse is almost as sure-footed. He has, 

*The high price of the milk, 12 to 15 cents per quart, is naturally the 
principal reason for the dearness of the butter. We believe we may affirm 
that a farmer from the North, well versed in dairy matters and provided 
with a small capital for the first expense of establishing himself, would do 
a remarkable business in Costa Rica, 



t>^ COSTA RICA- 

moreover. the advantage of an easy gait, similar to that of 

t!. - - " ' ' w£rf# in France, while the trot of the mule 

i.- ^. -guing. 

The price of horses varies greatly according to their 
quality. An ordinarily good horse is wonh $4<> to $70.* 
Good mules cost more: pretty fair ones may }^ fvind at 
ftvHn $^j to $S0- 

Imprjj-ving the horses of the country will very soon be 
well under way. Already companies have been formed for 
the introduction and propagation of exc-ellent Chili breeds. 

Shefp are very scarce in the country and of a kind hardly 
worthy to be mentioned. In all the Republic there may be 
counted 2.CM) head. Their introduction and breeiing in 
consido^ble numbers is highly d^irable. A sheep is worth 
$10. 

The ho^ are black in color and v^y little domesticated. 
They are numerous, but yield no such returns as might be 
obtained fr'>ni them if they were properly mttened. It is 
the c-nstom lo let them wander around the houses and along 
the roadade in the conntry. A young pig is worth $4 to $5. 
Wdl feittoied. his pric* would be from $25 to $50. Hog- 
raising is profitable. All Costa Ric-ans employ lard for the 
caisiiif . and sreat qnantiiies are imported from, the United 
^taicS- 

TLr " business is undoiibieilv :--;;'- - "-'-e. Hens 

are w:;i_ ::rTy cents apiece, and iL~ siiii_ -. .^zen more 

than half as much. They are very ordinary layers. A 
number of fowls of good breed have been introduced, it is 
true, but as yet there is very little accomplished in this di- 
rec^oo. Eo^ bring prices according to the seasons. The 
avsage price is thirty-six caits per dozen. The results from 
this product are very satisfectory.t 

* Hocses inaT he fo«suad It ~' -' - iLare »re otiiers a.: frjaa $^J0 t.j ^?3. 
Tsue prkes we bare gireE. : _ - \x'a w ialmali ibie to perioral Uie 

vc«t wlue& o&e h*£ a r%iLk ;*> eT»rt n>j>m ihaee oceapied dulj in the 

f "VfcrioGs specaes O'f Sgitio^ eock= are raised, tot h i= pr'>l»ble fitti this 
sjcrt -siH SJCKS. isare eeased. Omij a certaiE cl*=s are interested in it. and 
the last Q-ys^r^^ dsereed that it lie absolutely pn>lubited. 



3- -— m?. 69 

Dw^j^eesc, furleys. and all 1: 1 or-yaid fowl* are rare 
in the coantrr. The few amaiecxt 1 —'—-z ~ho raise dj€sa 
find it profitable, and the derelcr .-il „e indusirjr b 

foreseen for the fdtare. 

2- CoW^ lB^ifm'rr,n — ^The cofiee and sugar in _-i^ xa.w slate 
being the zi^.-r : riant products of ~lr i:iTy thdr 
prei £1 " : :: : ^ " . _ ^ piinopal indnsirv ■; i i^ 

The .:j-c :- :--_"::-■■-:-. -:-K-:.-;Jisfei»aife eaaoprise naialiy a seri-^s 
of r -ilfjing g rftyigned for Hie varioos paoceases thri^M 
— hi :.- ~iir rriin ha= to pa^ in order to become TnaTk^abie. 
The preparah : n : : -':- ^ : : ^ee, as it is pradicT?! in C: r ; ?: :-5 
consists of the z- -. -eTaiions : 

a. The Grin^ng and FermenimoiL. — The berri^ harrested 
are gronnd lightly and washed in mn: " ^ ' : z. -i:^^zr. 
tanks, whoie they undergo the tegiT: __ : \\—-zr^.z^ 
This first operation is for the pnTt^'Se of freeiii^- '—=: z-^zzj 
from, a portion of iis fleshy 7 ri :r^ :i - '\ \-^^^e the 
gonuny portion of the v? r:ie ^-^n 13 ~n: : _ : _ r: ~nt*e wonld 
adhere tenacionsiy :: : t t n :^i -enier i:~ :e-ii2Te 
de^cation difficnli- The 3^7 :- r::-iT:r : : r m 
afier fermentation nsei for z-i 3 ~ i~ : -t- _ .t ^ :_ - 
ingis iMJt always done: the leavni^ iz. :ne irziei. :: :~ 
tanks is absolutely necessary, at least m : r ler : ; 3 : : 1 :e 
what is callei washe-i :::zee In ? :-t: hi: z. n — _:;^ is 
called the dry pr»x-ess i~ n;- zin ^^ _: - ~- ni :t ::- 
z^atic pr«:t<incts but of infez: : : z z. : e 

b. The Ihyinc. — Eemove _ z: z_ :z_t - zn- ^ n-^ z:nn 
the pulp, the coffee is sp»rez. :. :z: zz. z_e 5zn n_ _-r:^: zzzzie 
s«jmetinits made of clay tzi" Z5z:z_~ : : eznezLZ It is 1^ 
exposed to the szzi zz :_ n :- 3 tZZt ;ziy dry : ihai is. zz:zzz_ 
the interior grain z~ i_ z n: :: zesisi the in?z"h :z -^e 
zziger-naiL This iryzzi, _ :n is the z:z:~z mzz :n zn : 
zh. Some years the crop is ■?. z;^,r±2l less ce-;-Ziiise :i 
weaiher; a rainy Pfrano is one 1 ne znT?" z^znzizi— 11 
the country. Of late drying-zzz nznTi nz z t n nzn - 
duced. inteided to replace the snnn^nz zn nni n : e sea- 



/ 



70 COSTA RICA. 

sons ; but the expense of drviiig in this manner would Ije so 
great that they will probably never be much used. One 
does not yet find the centrifugal turbine, which is employed 
elsewhere at present with such success in sliortening the 
time of drying. The turbinage of the coffee takes from it 
two-thirds of its superabundant humidity. 

c. The Cracking. — When it returns from the patios the 
coflfee has its grains hidden in the dry pericarp if it have 
not been ground at the beginning; if it have been ground 
the grains are still covered with a horny .^ubstance which 
is nothing else than the endocarpe. These coverings must 
be broken. This process is performed by means of great 
wheels traveling in a kind of circular track half filled with 
dry coffee or cascarilla, as it is called in the country. This 
machine was formerly worked by oxen ; to-da}" hydraulic 
force replaces them nearl}'- everywhere. 

d. The Polishing. — Before it is ready for consumption the 
berrv has still to undergo a final operation. It must be freed 
from the fine j)ellicle (episperme) covering each grain. This 
is done by means of a very simple machine composed of two 
cylinders of rugose surface moving in contrary direction. 
The coffee passes out of this as it appears in the market. 

e. The Sorting. — Before it is placed in sacks it is sorted, in 
order to remove the broken or damaged beans and to arrange 
it in size. There is, indeed, a notable difference of bean in the 
various qualities. These are known chiefly according to the 
size and regularity of the grains. The coffee whose berry pro- 
duces but a single grain, round and resembling a large green 
pea, with a lengthwise furrow, is that wdiich is valued most — 
not because it is better, but because it resembles the grain 
of the Mocha coffee, and thus obtains the preference of the 
consumers. Following this come the coffees of the first, 
second, and third classes. The sorting is done either by ma- 
chine or by hand ; in the latter case women and children are 
employed. 

The coffee benefiting establishments in the country num- 
ber at present 256. This industry is naturally centered on 



INDUSTRIES. 71 

the plateau — in the provinces of San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela, 
and Heredia. For several years machinery has almost every- 
where replaced the labor of men and oxen. Small owners 
send their coffee in the berry to the proprietors of benefiting 
works, who, for a certain remuneration, return them their 
coffee in sacks. The machinery used is worked by water- 
power, either with large water-wheels or turbines. Every 
year the stock of implements is improved and it is sought 
to replace the laborer by the machine, the former being seen 
less often in proportion as the country is developed and 
offers a vaster field for divers occupations. It is especially at 
the time of harvesting and of benefiting the coffee that 
hands are lacking, and that throughout the country is felt 
the necessity of immigration of robust laborers in large num- 
bers. At present an abundant yield in the country is almost 
to be dreaded, since often one hardly knows how to gather 
harvests that are at all large. 

The sugar mills are of very simple construction and their 
product, dulce, although valued by the people, is exceedingly 
primitive. These mills generally consist of a system of 
rollers between which the cane is crushed more or less per- 
fectly. The boiling and defecation of the syrup are effected 
afterwards in the vats, whence the boiling liquid passes into 
wooden moulds and congeals in the shapes of truncated 
cones. This is the dulce or thickened juice of the cane. 
Some mills are moved by water-power, but oftener the force 
is supplied by oxen, or even by the workmen themselves. A 
person traveling at night in the country often hears near 
habitations a lugubrious sound, similar to a long and strident 
groan, which is repeated at regular intervals. He is near 
some sugar mill. If curiosity induce him to approach he 
sees in the red glare of the furnaces, which causes them to 
seem fantastic creatures, men toiling laboriously to move the 
heavy motive beams of the mill. 

There are over a thousand dulce mills in Costa Rica ; 619 
of these are built of wood and 449 of iron. We have already 
mentioned the two well-appointed turbine sugar factories of 
the country. 



72 COSTA KICA. 

The sau'-milh, luimbering 74, are very complete in arrange- 
ment. This industry is, naturally, carried on for the most 
part at some distance from the plateau, since the latter is 
wholly given up to cultivation. It is, nevertheless, very 
profitable, since the price of joists, of sawed planks, or of 
laths increases yearly, according as more houses and a better 
kind of houses are built in the cities.* 

3. Various Industries. — No grand industry exists as yet in 
Costa Rica. The few factories which are found employ but 
a limited number of workmen, and the products which they 
turn out are not sufficient for the country's needs. Agri- 
culture, in truth, occupies all the hands and offers such large 
and certain profits that large capital is not devoted to any- 
thing except cultivation of lands. There exist, neverthe- 
less, on a small scale, a certain number of industries which 
will doubtless be developed when the population is greater. 
We shall allude to them briefly. 

The flour industry is represented by a single steam-mill, 
situated in San Jose and belonging to a foreign company. 
With the increase of the wheat culture this industry cannot 
fail to attain greater development. There are also found in 
the country two or three starch factories, which extract it from 
the sweet manioc root. 

Brick-making is well represented. Over a hundred brick- 
kilns may be counted in the country. The argilous earth 
is in great abundance, while stone is rare, on the plateau 
central. The construction of the kilns leaves much to be 
desired. In Costa Rica they only know the kind called 
portable ovens, the fuel for which is extremely dear. This 
industry gives considerable profit. Nearly all the building 
in the cities is of brick, although this is hardly adapted to 
a country subject to earthquakes ; it would better be replaced 
by iron and wood. 

* The price of boards naturally depends very much on the cartage, which 
is always high. The intrinsic value of certain woods which become scarce 
is not to be disregarded. Firewood costs at least $4 per cubic yard in the 
cities of the plateau central. 



INDUSTRIES. 



73 



The tanning business counts a certain number of estab- 
lishments, whence an ordinary leather is turned out. This 
is used in the country for the manufacture of saddles, often 
gotten up very artistically ; for aljofjas or saddle-bags ; for 
straps, cruppers, and all that goes to compose harness. 

Several soap factories supply the trade with a resinous soap 
good only for laundry purposes. 

The candle factories in like manner furnish candles of in- 
ferior quality. 

There are two foundries at San Jose. They are certainly 
of great service, but only for repairing. The metal, in truth, 
and the coal used by them coming from abroad, articles al- 
ready manufactured can be brought and sold much cheaper 
than those manufactured on the spot. 

A loeaving mill was established several years since at 
Heredia and is fairly successful. The raw material for the 
fabrics which are manufactured there come from abroad ; 
nevertheless, the ordinary native cotton cloth can compete 
with that imported. The Heredia factory gives especial at- 
tention to the manufacture of rebozos (long pieces of silk), 
which the women of the poorer classes use to cover their 
shoulders in the street or wear over their heads when they 
go to church. This sort of a shawl is always of some bright 
color and is expensive. It is not unusual to meet barefooted 
country women whose shoulders are wrapped in a rebozo 
worth from fifteen to twenty dollars. 

Other industries have taken a start in the country. The 
manufacture has been undertaken of castor oil and other 
oils, chocolate, perfumery, ice, gaseous waters, beer, etc., with 
machinery brought from Europe or America. To encour- 
age these industries the government generally exempts the 
machinery imported of duty. Many others will doubtless 
have a beginning, once the railroad to the Atlantic is com- 
pleted and the transportation of heavy pieces of metal is ren- 
dered easier. 

Beside the foundry which we have mentioned above and 
a liquor factory, of which we shall say a few words in con- 



74 COSTA KICA. 

nection with monopolies, the government has also a Rem- 
ington cartridge factory, which supplies ammunition for the 
army. Imported cartridges are soon aUccted hy the moist- 
ure. 

The railroad company has various ^vorhJiops for building 
and repairing its stock. A good deal of the fine work of these 
was mucli admired at the exposition of 1886. 

As we have already said, the mining industry, until now 
amounting to very little, has a bright outlook. The ap- 
pliances introduced of late will permit the prompt and 
serious exploitation of the ores, which are so rich and plenti- 
ful in certain parts of the country. 

The |)eaH ^s/«cr?/ is productive on tlie Pacific coast. The 
company which now has the monopoly makes a specialty of 
mother-of-pearl, and employs a number of competent divers. 

A concession has recently been granted by Congress to a 
Costa Rican for the establishment of salt-works, where salt 
will be obtained by a process similar to that employed in 
Europe. 

All the industries of which we have just spoken, although 
conducted on a small scale and rather primitively, are, 
nevertheless, paying. Foreign manufacturers would cer- 
tainly Kind in Costa Rica a most encouraging locality for 
introduction of new manufactures or the improvement of 
those alread}^ existing. Streams everywhere furnish the 
motive-power required. The rapid increase of population 
augments daily the consumption of products. The neigh- 
boring Republics, lacking industries, as a rule, provide a 
large field for exportation. Artisans and men with trades 
are certain of making a good living in the country. x\ good 
carpenter easily earns $3 per day. A cabinet-maker or an 
upholsterer would easily make twice as much ; for, although 
a great deal of furniture is imported, that which is made in 
the country with imperishable woods has always the prefer- 
ence. Pastry-cooks, pork-butchers, tailors, shoemakers, and 
bakers who arrived ten years since in the country without 
capital are all well off to-day. Good salaries and constant 



INDUSTRIES. 



75 



work can be assured to good watch-makers, printers and 
book-binders, stone-cutters, masons, and house-painters; 
blacksmiths, machinists, coppersmiths, saddlers, umbrella- 
makers— in short, to all those possessing good practical 
knowledge and a determination to persevere in any indus- 
try, great or small. 

4. Monopolies.— There is occasion here to distinguish be- 
tween the monopolies granted to private individuals and 
those whose exploitation is reserved by the government. 

Literary and artistic copyrights are protected, as well as 
are inventions, for a limited time, by article 73, paragraph 
20, of the present constitution. The monopolies which have 
been enjoyed or are at present enjoyed by certain companies 
or certain individuals were granted them formerly by Con- 
gress for a limited time. They were necessary and just in 
the time of the first great enterprises or the launching of in- 
dustries ; to-day they would be unnecessary and disadvan- ■ 
tageous for the country. Indeed, as we have just seen, 
industry is no longer to be created ; it has need only of de- 
velopment, and this development will certainly be better 
and rapider with free competition. This is why it is so dif- 
ficult now for a private individual to obtain the exclusive 
right for any exploitation whatever. In the same way the 
contracts made recently by the government with different 
companies limit the exclusive rights to a few years and stip- 
ulate that, this time having expired, they shall be granted 
to all others who, under the same conditions, shall ask for 

them. 

The government has reserved for itself two monopolies : 
the sale of tobacco and the manufacture of liquors. We 
have already alluded to the first in speaking of cultures. 
We shall add here that the cigar industry, reduced at pres- 
ent to the manufacture of common cigarettes and ugly little 
cigars, would certainly be afforded great scope with the ces- 
sation of the monopoly. The chircagre tobacco which was 
formerly harvested between San Jose and Cartago was of an 



76 COSTA RICA. 

undeniably superior quality and was greatly appreciated by 
foreign connoisseurs. Should its culture again become free, 
it will be an object for large exportation, not only in leaves 
but also in tlie shape of home-manufactured products. We 
shall have to return, further on, to the question of figures. 
We may say, however, that this monopoly gives to the 
nation an annual income of half a million dollars. 

The manutacture of liquors is centered at San Jose in a 
vast establishment. The distillery apparatus is excellent 
and the products of the national factory are usually of a fine 
quality. The contraband brandy has a reputation for su- 
periority, which it owes, possibly, to the attractiveness of 
forbidden fruit. It is dangerous to the health, however, not 
being rectified. Despite active surveillance and the severe 
penalties which are imposed upon those caught in the act, 
it has not been possible to prevent entirely the illicit dis- 
tilling. The principal liquors manufactured are an anisette 
brandy, a w^hite rum, and the pure brandy from the cane, 
commonly called guaro. The national factory produces some 
other liquors which are not largely consumed. The intro- 
duction of foreign brandies and liquors is permitted, and 
these are imported yearly in great quantities ; but such high 
duty is paid that the consumer finds them very dear. 

The liquor monopoly gives the government a yearly in- 
come of nearly a million dollars. 



CHAPTER V. 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 

1. Exportation and Importation. — The march of commerce 
in Costa Rica is naturally in keeping with the development 
of agriculture. A year of good harvests or of high price of 
coffee is a j^ear of great importation. This explains the 
fluctuations which appear in the following table. 

Year. Exportation. Importation. 

1883 .... 12,431,635 $2,166,074 

1884 . . . 4,219,617 3,521,921 

1885 .... 3,296,508 3,660,931 

1886 . . . 3,225,807 3,538,435 

1887 . . . . 6,236,563 5,601,225 

1888 . . . 5,713,792 5,201,922* 

In 1850 the exportation and importation, which were 
more or less equal, were each figured at a million dollars. 
The year 1888 showing a general movement of over ten mil- 
lions of dollars, commerce is quintupled in a period of, say, 
forty years, while the population in the same length of time 
has only doubled. Within five years it has doubled, while 
the population in that time has only increased one-tenth. 
We have already indicated the principal reason for this in- 
crease of importation and exportation. In 1888 the coffee 
constituted nearly five-sixths of the total of general expor- 
tation, and the same proportion is observed for the preceding 
years. It is with coffee that Costa Rica should pay for what 
she purchases abroad. It is thus almost entirely the increase 
of its production and its present high price which have per- 

* All figures given in this chapter are taken from Calvo's Costa Eica (L. 
Tyner, editor; Eand, McNally & Co., publishers, Chicago, U. S. A.), from 
the Annual of Statistics, years 1886-'87-'88, edited by Don Enrique Villa- 
vicencio, and from the Report of the Minister of Finance, year 1888. 

(77) 



78 CCiSTA KICA. 

mittecl the extraordinary development of the commerce of im- 
portation of \aie. Other facts of less importance explain the 
great introduction of foreign merchandise within the past 
three years. It is within this space that they have begun to 
introduce into the country a great quantity of machinery for 
coffee benefiting and for various young industries. AVith 
the abundance of resources has come an increase of needs. 

For some time past the Costa Rican has traveled for 
pleasure. He returns from Europe or the United States 
with tastes which he had not before setting out. Little by 
little the love of comforts, and of luxury even, have been in- 
troduced, and one in rivalry with another in this direction, 
the principal business houses have been compelled to satisfy 
new demands. Articles for which there was absolutely no 
call a few years since have come into daily demand. We 
may remark here that the situation could not but prove dis- 
tressing should a fall in the price of coffee or bad harvests 
come to diminish the sole resources which at present pay for 
this comfort and these more and more refined tastes of civil- 
ized life. 

It is useless to enumerate here the articles of exportation, 
since the coffee constitutes nearly the entire amount. We 
may say that after it the bananas and hides alone are of 
importance. Nearly half of the coffee exported is sent to 
England. Next in importance come the United States, and 
afterwards, in somewhat the same way, though at a consid- 
erable distance, Germany and France, as indicated by the 
following table : 

Coffee Exported in 188S. 

Countries. Quintals. Value. 

England. . . . 122,492 $2,859,896 

United States . . 62,229 1,395,920 

Germany . . . 11,832 279,763 

France . . . 7,803 165,002 

Other countries V . 1,903 41,672 

Total . . . 206,259 4,742,253 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 



79 



The principal articles of importation are: fabrics of all 
kinds; linens, cloth, stuff^ and silks, whose value is over 
$1,200,000; underwear, wearing apparel, shoes and stock- 
ings, pita hats, sacks for coffee, altogether representing a 
value of $350,000; necessaries of hfe (rice, flour, sugar, 
beans), estimated at $250,000; preserves, canned goods, 
$120,000 ; oils, greases, lard, $140,000 ; alcohol and foreign 
liquors, $213,136; beer and wines, $240,527; drugs and 
medicinal products, $116,391 ; tobacco, $84,282 ; perfumery, 
$40,000 ; articles of luxury, $38,600 ; barb wire for fences, 
$91,270 ; machinery of all sorts, $80,116.* In the table of 
importation for the year 1888 there are also $365,282 worth 
of material for the railroad in construction, and a little over 
$40,000 worth of coal. 

The principal lines of steamers which touch at the ports of 
Costa Rica are, on the Atlantic side, the Royal Mail Steam 
Packet Company's, whose steamers leave from Southampton 
and returning touch at Cherbourg ; the Atlas line, whose 
steamers leave from New York and touch at Limon weekly 
after having passed Cuba, Venezuela, and Colombia ; a line 
direct between Limon and New Orleans, engaged chiefly in 
carrying bananas, and a Hamburg line, which sends a vessel 
every month to Costa Rica. The port of Puntarenas, on the 
Pacific side, is served by the Pacific Mail line, which has the* 
coasting trade between San Francisco and Panama, and 
vice versa. A few steamers of German companies and occa- 
sional sailing vessels which double Cape Horn stop in this 
port, especially during the time of the coffee harvest. 

In 1888, 140 arrivals of steamers were counted in Port 
Limon and 162 in Puntarenas. The foreign steamers do 
not pay any tonnage, and are only subject to a light-house 
duty of $25 on entering and leaving the port. The sailing 
vessels pay 25 cents per ton of registry and $10 light-house 
duty on their arrival and departure. The sailing vessels 
loaded with ballast or coal are exempt from tonnage. Ships 

*0f this sum the sewing-machines make up the amount of $42,272, or 
more than half. 



80 COSTA RICA. 

of war, merchant- vessels obliged to touch regularly at one 
of the Costa Rican ports, and boats obliged by unusual cir- 
cumstances to anchor in the waters of the Republic, pay no 
duty. 

2. Financial State of the Budget. — The budget of the Re- 
public has followed the progress of commerce, as the follow- 
ing table indicates : 

State of the Treasury. 



Year. 


Keceipts. 


Outlay. 


1824 . . 


$14,751 00 


$14,243 00 


1840 


. . 117,164 00 


67,992 00 


1879-'80 . 


2,525,726 12 


3,158,823 72 


1886-'87 . , 


. . 2,883,752 03 


2,772,315 07 


1887-'88 . 


3,582,815 87 


3,305,547 57 


1888-'89 . . 


, . 4,151,584 64 


3,939,997 75 



The budget already voted for the economic year 1889-'90 
amounts, for outlay, to $4,183,798.23, balanced by a sum of 
probable receipts of $4,287,686.89, leaving a surplus of over 
$100,000. 

Of the outlay one-half consists of amounts allowed to the 
different secretaryships ; a quarter is devoted to the pay- 
ment of the interest and amortisation of the debt ; the fourth 
quarter is placed on the budget under the head of : A^arious 
expenses and exploitations of monopolies. 

The ' receipts account is established by means of the pro- 
ducts of custom-house, of exploitation of monopolies, and 
ordinary revenue from smaller importation. 

The examination of the figures we have just given leaves 
no doubt as to the prosperous condition of the country and 
as to the equilibrium of the budget during late years. The 
two last administrations, that of Don Prospero Fernandez, 
and particularl}^ tliat of General Don Bernardo Soto, have 
made it a study to improve the finances and restore the credit 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 81 

of the country, which had been for ten years in regrettable 
shape. 

The statement of facts which we have yet to present in the 
chapter will prove beyond doubt that the end has been ab- 
solutely attained, and that to-day Costa Rica may rightly 
rejoice over her financial condition. 

The principal source of income of the nation to-day is the 
custom-house. All goods destined for Costa Rica should be 
accompanied by consular invoice. They begin by paying a 
wharfage^ at the moment of unloading, then are sent to the 
central custom-house at San Jose. In Puntarenas and Limon 
there are branch custom-houses where one can obtain his 
goods on complying with certain formalities ; in Carrillo 
there is a great warehouse. 

A company of agencies, to which are consigned the most of 
the vessels which arrive at Costa Rica, usually has charge of 
the transportation of merchandise to the central custom- 
house. 

The duty is very high on certain articles, such as brandy, 
tobacco, objects of luxury, silks, furniture, perfumery, and 
fire-arms. The government has wisely reduced the duty, of 
late, on necessary articles — wines notably. It is probable also 
that in the next revision of the tariff the duty will be abolished 
or considerately reduced on raw materials, with the view to 
encourage young industries. Nevertheless, as duty is calcu- 
lated on the gross weight of the goods it increases in a con- 
siderable proportion the price of the latter. Added to the 
expense of transportation from the ports to San Jose, it may 
be estimated that it will double, on an average, the cost of 
the imported articles. It is nothing astonishing, when one 
refers to the figures given above as to importations, that the 
custom-house gives to the State annually over two-fifths of 
its actual revenue. The income from customs is applied 
first of all to the payment of interest and amortisation of 
the foreign debt of the Republic ; the surplus goes into the 
National Treasur3^ 

* The wharfage applies to exported goods as well. 

6 



82 COSTA KICA. 

The custom-house in 1888 produced $1,707,584.92; in 
1887, $1,302,741.24, and in 1880, $807,801.44. This revenue 
has therefore doubled in three years. We have given, in 
speaking of commerce, some of the reasons which expU\in 
this considerable augmentation. Will importation always 
be as great? Maya like income from customs be counted 
upon in years to come ? These questions are difficult to re- 
solve. We do not accept, however, the opinions of the pes- 
simists who, foreseeing soon or late a serious fall in coffee, 
argue a diminution of importation in consequence. Speedily, 
we feel certain, new cultures will have increased vastly the 
fortune of the country ; vast immigration will have poured 
into a region where natural wealth of every description only 
awaits exploitation. New" supply and new demand will cer- 
tainly compensate for the fall, if fall there come. In any case^ 
like a wise people, the Costa Rieans have not fallen asleep 
over their present prosperity. Government and private in- 
dividuals are laboring to increase it still further, and as long 
as the policy inaugurated by the last two administrations — 
as we have previously remarked, that of President Soto in" 
particular — shall be followed, Costa Rica wall merit its 
name^that is to say, it will be rich and prosperous. 

The tobacco and liquor monopolies together constitute an 
income equal at least to that of the custom-house. This in- 
come also has notably increased of late years, although in 
less proportion than that of the former. In 1886 it pro- 
duced $1,310,887.37; in 1887, $1,559,071.22, and in 1888, 
$1,696,356.27. The net gain for last year is $1,334,666.41 
for the monopolies of liquor and tobacco combined. 

Among the revenues of lesser importance we may cite the 
stamped paper, a tax on the slaughter of animals for butcher 
purposes,* the patents for the sale of liquors, of beer and 
foreign w4nes, the registration of property and mortgages, 

*This tax is called "subvention of war," because it was established to 
amortise the debt contracted on the occasion of the 1856 war against the 
filibuster, "Walker. Although the debt is now paid, the tax has been con- 
tinued. It produces about $80,000 per annum. 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 83 

and the products of post office and telegraph. All these 
revenues together gave for the year 1888 a total of nearly 
$300,000. 

The municipal taxes are not high. The owners of real 
estate alone are obliged to pay the taxes destined for the 
maintenance of the municipal police, the street-lighting, and 
the supply of water in the houses. Merchants and bankers 
are subject to certain taxes in accordance with their kind of 
business, and a small number of industries pay likewise a 
municipal tax. All residents of the Republic over twenty 
years of age are obliged to contribute a dollar annually, to 
their respective municipalities for the improvement and 
keeping in order of roads. 

3. Interior and Exterior Debt — The public debt is divided 
into the interior — that is, contracted in the country — and 
the exterior, or that contracted abroad. 

The interior debt is partly consolidated and partly floating. 
The consolidated debt is represented by the capital of various 
institutions of education, of charity, and of benevolence. The 
government pays the interest of these capitals to the institu- 
tions mentioned, but has thought it necessary, for various 
reasons, to protect their having had the covering of the na- 
tional responsibility. This consolidated debt represents at 
present a total of 8433,488.27. The floating debt amounts 
to the sum of §1,521,875.76. It comprises chiefly 8870,244.25 
of paper money of two different issues, of which the govern- 
ment every year cancels a certain quantity. The total of 
the interior debt is §1,955,364.03, which the public treasury 
is to reimburse at a day's notice, when the interest of the 
country shall require it, in disposing of the stock which shall 
be returned in the paid capital of the Railroad Company of 
Costa Rica.* 

The exterior debt had its origin in the loans effected in 



* For complete information on this point and on headings 2 and 3 in 
general, see the "Eeport of Finances and Commerce," year 1889. 



84 COSTA RICA. 

1871 and 1872 for the construction of the projected raih'oad 
from Limon to Puntarenas, crossing the plateau central. 

This deht, very great at the beginning, was consolidated 
in 1885 and reduced to a sum of £2,000,000, with interest at 
5 per cent., thanks to an arrangement between the govern- 
ments and the bondholders effected by Mr. Minor C. Keith, 
whose energy and perseverance we have already had occa- 
sion to praise. 

The government on one hand recognized definitely a debt 
which until then had not received complete legal sanction, 
hypothecated the revenue of its custom-house in order to 
assure itself of the use, and on the other obtained the com- 
plete achievement of the Limon-Cartago railway, of vital 
importance to the country. A company was formed to in- 
sure the conclusion of this great work. It was granted, 
among other privileges, the monopoly of the exploitation of 
the entire line, including the portions constructed on the 
plateau central and 800,000 acres of government lands.* 
The State, for its part, received a third of the capital judged 
necessary for the construction of the Reventazon line in un- 
encumbered shares, and reserved for itself the half of the 
product of exploitation or sum resulting from sale of lands 
conceded. 

The payment of interest on the thus recognized exterior 
debt began, by virtue of the arrangements completed by 
Costa Rica, the first of July of last year, and since then have 
been continued with scrupulous exactitude. Fifty thousand 
pounds sterling were thus paid on July 1, 1888 ; on Janu- 
ary 1, 1889, and on July 1, 1889. The government has 
thereby proven not only the admirable condition of its 
finances, but also that it is firmly decided to respect and to 
fulfill the obligations it has contracted. The credit of the 
country, formerly much shaken, has been entirely rehabili- 

* The railway company has lately ceded the lands which were coming to 
it, accordina; to the contract, to a new company — River Plate Trust and 
Loan Agency Co. — which will undertake their exploitation with briefer 
delay than could the company itself. 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 85 

tated ; Costa Rica bonds were quoted in London, in May, 1889, 
at 94 and 95 for series A, and 92J and 93| for series B. No 
country of America — the United States excepted — has better 
outlook for its paper on the European markets. The state 
of the Costa Rica treasury, the growing prosperity of the 
country, and the wisdom of its government besides, fully 
justify this confidence. 

The amortisation of the exterior debt is to begin in part 
in the year 1897. We may recall here that this amortisa- 
tion, as well as the payment of the interest, is guaranteed 
with the product of the customs, which must be applied 
thereto before all else. In referring to the figures which we 
have given above as to this product, in speaking of com- 
merce, it will be seen that the wiping out of this debt is ab- 
solutely certain. 

The diminution of the public debt for the past four years 
is established by the following table : 

1885, public debt (int. and ext.) . . . $18,523,380 66 
1889, '' " . . 12,917,036 53 

Decrease ..... 5,606,344 13 

This difference is to the credit of the administration of 
General Don Bernardo Soto, who has known how to sur- 
round himself in the labor of governing with collaborateurs 
who are enlightened, patriotic, and thoughtful for their 
country's dignity as well as for her prosperity. Among 
these it is no more than just to allude to the Minister of Fi- 
nances for the past four years, Don Mauro Fernandez, whose 
name we have already mentioned in speaking of the pro- 
gress of educational matters. 

The movement of the public funds has been centered in a 
private institution, the Union Bank, which assumes the char- 
acter of a national bank. This institution receives a com- 
mission of i per cent, for its labors. This arrangement is 
advantageous for the nation, since it obviates a force of fiscal 
employes, whose salaries would certainly prove a consider 
able expense. 



86 COSTA RICA. 

4. Moneys, Weights, and Measures. — The money in general 
use in Costa Rica is the paper dollar. Its value is nomi- 
nally one hundred cents, five francs, or four English shil- 
lings, but in realit}' it is worth only about 70 cents, 3.50 
francs, 2 shillings 10 pence, gold being at a premium of 
from 30 to 50 per cent. There exists a certain amount of old 
government bills ; but, as we have said above, they diminish 
every year, and those in circulation to-day are nearly all 
issued by the Union Bank. This institution has the mo- 
nopoly of fiduciar}'' issue for a sum four times the amount 
of its metallic reserve. The paper money is accepted through- 
out all the Republic without question, and the silver money 
of the country has no premium over it. The bills of high- 
est denomination are those of $100 ; the smallest is of one 
dollar. 

The divisional money is silver, and is struck off in tlie 
country. There are 50, 25, 10, and 5 cent pieces. Their 
assay is 750 thousandths. The gold coined up to 1876 is, 
to-day, almost impossible to find ; it has nearly all gone out 
of the country. 

The decimal system of money was adopted in 1863. 

The customar}^ interest on money of 12 per cent, some 
years back is now reduced to 9 per cent. Beside the Union 
Bank, to which is due chiefly this reduction of rate of in- 
terest, one can hardly mention other financial establishment 
than the Anglo-Costarricense Bank, whose affairs have been 
very prosperous, but whose operations have diminished of 
late. 

The metric system of weights and measures was adopted 
in 1884, and has been put in practice since July first of 
1886. As the old system is, however, often employed as yet, 
we believe it well to give here the names and equivalents of 
the principal weights and measures of the country : 

a.) Weights. — The Costa Rican pound is the Spanish 
pound of 460 grammes. Twenty-five pounds make one ar- 



COMMERCE AND FINANCE. 87 

roha, and four arrobas one quintal, the latter weighing but 
46 kilogrammes. 

b.) Measures of Capacity. — The greatest measure of capacity 
is the fanega, which contains almost exactly four hectolitres 
(a little over 88 gallons). It is divided into 24 cajuelas of 
16.66 litres (27.32 quarts) each. The cuartillo is the fourth 
part of the cajuela, about 4.165 litres (7.08 quarts). 

c.) Long Measure. — The Costa Rican vara is nearly the 
same as the English yard. It is divided into 36 inches. The 
league equals 20,000 Spanish feet. 

d) Square Measure. — The measure in general use is the 
rtianzana, which has 10,000 square yards. In measuring 
great extents of land the caballeria, containing 64|- manzanas, 
is employed. 

All these weights and measures are employed daily, es- 
pecially in the country. As is the case everywhere, it will 
be only after a generation at least that the metric system, 
which alone is taught in the schools to-day, will prevail and 
the old system and old denominations be abandoned.* 

* Abundant details as to weights and measures will be found in Calvo's 
Costa Rica (edited by L. Tyner), which we have already alluded to. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE FUTURE. 

We have endeavored in the preceding chapters to present 
facts, and we have done so conscientiously and in all truth. 
It does not seem to us out of place to draw therefrom some 
practical conclusions. Our work has a double purpose : on 
one hand to dissipate certain geographical and scientific 
errors, as well as certain errors of judgment, respecting Costa 
Rica ; on the other, to attract the attention of European and 
American emigrants to this as yet little known Republic. 

Although the picture that we have sought to draw of the 
country and its inhabitants remains perforce unfinished, is 
perhaps no more than a faint sketch, we do not feel obliged 
to dwell upon this tact. We have attempted above all to be 
just ; that is, to make known Costa Rica as she is to-day. 
With that view we have drawn from the best sources ; we 
have even verified the greater part of the information fur- 
nished us. Our estimates and opinions, which we give as 
authentic, are the results of experience acquired by spend- 
ing considerable time in the country. The study of Costa 
Rica remains yet to be made ; it will not be for some years 
that sufficient material will have accumulated to compose a 
complete work. We claim for our part only the modest 
merit of having, after others, driven a new stake in the line 
of a road which is yet to be opened. 

The question of immigration is too important for us to 
neglect placing in a clearer light some of the conclusions 
which should result from the facts shown in the course of 
this study. 

" Of all social phenomena, emigration is the one conform- 
ing most to the order of nature, the one most lasting in all 
periods of history. It is as natural to mankind," says Burke 

(88) 



THE FUTURE. 89 

" to flock to countries that are rich and suitable to industry, 
where for any reason the population is scarce, as it is natu- 
ral for compressed air to rush into the couches of rarefied 
air." * This passage, which we borrow from the savant- 
economist, M. Paul Leroy Beaulieu, and wherein is found 
quoted a famous name, politically speaking, expresses a 
thought which no one disputes to-day. For the greater 
number of European countries emigration is not only a fact 
but an annual necessity ; it is the judicious depletion to pre- 
vent plethora. The tide of emigration from the old world 
follows in the march of humanity ; it takes a westward 
direction. 

Beyond the Atlantic two vast continents, known to the 
greater part of mankind only for the past four centuries, 
offer as yet, an immense unoccupied area, as well as incal- 
culable wealth. The tide which has varied in form and in- 
tensity, in different periods, has at present two principal 
impulses : one proceeds due west and breaks in waves of 
population over the United States ; the other, more recent, 
slants southward and enters the estuary of the Rio de la 
Plata, whence it spreads over the Argentine Republic. In 
the first centuries following the discovery of America, the 
tide of emigration was otherwise. It directed itself alone to 
the Archipelago of the Antilles, and thence radiated over 
the regions comprised between the two tropics. 

The present change of course is easily explained. That 
which the great mass of emigrants of the sixteenth and sev- 
enteenth centuries sought in America was rapid fortune ; it 
was the gold-mine which enabled them to return to Europe 
rich after a few years, and to end their days in their native 
land. What the emigrant of to-day desires is a bit of land 
on which to build a house, and fields to sow ; not sudden 
fortune but tranquil ease, forgetfulness of the misery and 
the terrible struggle for existence ; in short, peace and quiet 
in the bosom of a new country. It is understood that, under 

*From " Colonization chez les peuple-s 7nodernes,'' by M. Paul Leroy-Beau- 
lieu, page 467. Paris, Guillaumin et Cie. 



90 COSTA RICA. 

these circumstances, the European betakes himself by pref- 
erence to the temperate regions to the north and to the 
south of the tropics. It is natural, since they, moreover, 
recall to him the country he has left and obviate his pass- 
ing through somowhat difficult acclimatization. It is also 
natural, since, being formerly reputed less rich in precious 
metals, they were less populated than the tropical regions, 
and offered wider field for colonization. 

However, the present is a critical moment. The United 
States and the Argentine Republic begin, in spite of their 
immense still unoccupied territories, to be over populated 
in certain localities. There is already opposition raised in 
these two countries to the flood of emigration. Hindered 
in its march, the latter is obliged to seek another route than 
that which it has followed so long. Whither will it direct 
itself? We believe the moment has arrived for it to resume 
its earliest course. The Spanish-American countries have 
lost their Eldorado reputation, but they have lost naught of 
their fertility. They will always have the true wealth, that 
of the soil unceasingly productive. Immense regions await 
only the shovel and the pick-axe in order to produce not the 
treasures that have been demanded of them for a long time, 
but abundant reaping, not of gold, but of golden harvests. 

Among all the Latin Republics of America Costa Rica oc- 
cupies certainly one of the first places, if one class them ac- 
cording to the advantages and resources offered by each to 
immigration. 

Few countries have a brighter future in the distance. 
The climate is salubrious, temperate, and to be likened to a 
perpetual spring. The fertility of the soil has yielded the 
present wealth and gives further assurance of it. Its posi- 
tion is certainly advantageous. The smallness of its popu- 
lation will enable it to welcome strangers for a long time, 
not as a burden, but as a l:)lessing. 

Where, indeed, could be found a better spot for immigra- 
tion and the fruitful employment of foreign capital ? The 
agriculture demands laborers, demands them loudly, and 



THE FUTURE. 91 

the more that respond the sooner it will prove the source of 
wealth for not merely a few, but for the entire country. The 
lands not yet cleared are vast, of recognized fertility, and their 
low price places them, within reach of the smallest capital. 
For those who will improve them they will cost only the 
labor of the improving. Those who work at trades are sure 
of high wages. The industrial field has wide range. Va- 
rious industries might be introduced with profit into the 
country. The development of those already begun would 
show admirable results. Capital yields at least double as 
much as in Engtand, if one consider alone the rate of inter- 
est. This yield is much more considerable if one consider 
the income from lands, the earnings of commerce, or of in- 
dustries. 

Much is said in Europe, it is true, of the instability of the 
governments and the insecurity of affairs in the Spanish- 
American Republics. This is an erroneous idea, as far as 
Costa Rica is concerned. The country has hardly known 
revolutions. It is wisely governed to-day. Its financial 
condition is prosperous, and the state of civilization at which 
it has arrived places it beyond any retrogression. All the 
countries of Central America, from the Isthmus of Panama 
to Mexico, are represented, besides, as extremely insalubri- 
ous. This is wholly false. Costa Rica is neither Panama 
nor the Mosquito Coast. The climate is, on the contrary, as 
we have already repeated several times, perfectly healthful 
and temperate rather than hot. If there be, as there are 
everywhere, unhealthful regions, these will be rendered 
healthful by clearing and improvement ; and, besides, the 
lands to be disposed of are so vast, that for a long time yet, 
the immigrant will not need to establish himself in a lo- 
cality not entirely satisfactory to him. A third great error, too 
widely spread and one which we have strenuously sought to 
combat, consists in the belief that the country is still half 
sunk in ignorance and barbarism. This is absolutely untrue. 
The aspect of the cities, the character of the inhabitants, the 
condition of public instruction, the 'government's adminis- 



92 COSTA RICA. 

trative wisdom, and the development of commerce are a 
proof of it. Europe no longer has a monopoly of civiliza- 
tion. True, the light has proceeded from her, but the torch 
now blazes in many regions once submerged in shadow, and 
Costa Rica may well boast of having in a few years arrived 
at an enviable degree of culture. 

Two other serious objections ma}' be raised against emigra- 
tion to Costa Rica, but these are not as insurmountable as they 
might appear at tirst view. The first is the dearness of liv- 
ing ; the second may rise from the recollection of unfortunate 
attempts at colonization, made formerly under deplorable 
conditions. The first objection is easily conquered. Living 
is dear in Costa Rica, it is true ; but this dearness is compen- 
sated by the rate of wages. Living is dear because the coun- 
try is rich ; one need not go deep into political economy in 
order to prove it ; the United States will enable us to dis- 
pense with inopportune demonstrations. Besides, not every- 
thing is dear. The stranger arriving in the country should 
seek to habituate himself promptly to the manner of living 
there. That which is expensive is the attempt to preserve 
intact the usages of European or North American life. The 
immigrant from Europe ought to be wise enough to endure 
some privations, which would only be such until he had 
become used to them. He would do well, for instance, to 
give up the wine which he drinks in France or the beer 
which costs him almost nothing in German}'. Beans will 
supply the place of potatoes in his ordinary food. But are 
these grave inconveniences ? "We think not, and we should 
not have spoken of such elementary rules of conduct had 
not experience taught us at various times that it was neces- 
sary to insist upon this point. 

From the fact that various attempts made at colonizing 
Costa Rica have not resulted as was expected by those who 
have undertaken them, it should not be deduced that emi- 
gration is not to be advised. The best of enterprises badly 
conducted may prove disastrous. Far from us the wish to cast 
a stone at those who made the first attempts at establishing 



THE FUTURE. 93 

foreign colonies in Costa Eica. These attempts were made 
some time since, and the country was not certainly twenty or 
thirty years back of what it is to-day. They were obliged, 
therefore, to straggle with obstacles which have since dis- 
appeared. We beheve, however, that if the projects had 
been better matured and the ground better studied, one nee<i 
not have had failures to regret. It is a great mistake — un- 
fortunately one too common — to believe that colonies may 
be founded at a single attempt. One should not expect, in 
Costa Rica any more than elsewhere, to see towns and vil- 
lages rise as by enchantment in places that formerly were 
deserts. Only under certain exceptional circumstances — 
the affluence of the population in region of gold mines, for 
example — have permitted such marvels. Colonies have al- 
most always humble beginnings. Lands are cleared slowly. 
There must be a first sowing and reaping of that wherewith 
to sustain the Hfe of a certain number of individuals, in order 
that a group may gather and the colony be formed without 
fear of perishing in misery. In the exceptional case that we 
have cited above, the immigrants have bought their first 
supplies at extremely high prices : but the farmer colonists 
are always poor on their arrival. They can only count upon 
their daily toil. While waiting until the forest shall be laid 
low, the seeds sown, the first grain of wheat or ear of corn 
to be harvested, what shall they hve upon ? What shall 
they live upon, far from other men's habitations, in regions 
as yet hardly more than deserts, where food cannot be 
brouo:ht save with greatest difiicultv ? Thev will sufter a 
thousand ills. They will lose the hope and confidence with 
which they were armed at the beginning, and disgusted with 
toil, sighing after their former condition, of which they re- 
member only the brightest side, they will one after another 
abandon their wearisome undertaking. This is the explana- 
tion of what has occurred in Costa Rica and what will occur 
again if emigration be attempted under the same conditions. 
One should not think of transplanting whole colonies, un- 
less to lands prepared a long time in advance, already put 



94 COSTA EICA. 

in process of culture to some degree, and in a way to produce 
food for the firt-t needs of the new-comers. 

Costa Rica, nevertheless, desires immigration. We have 
shown above that it is a necessity for the country, and in any 
case a condition on which depends her future prosperity. 
Speaking of colonies, the economist whom w'e have already 
quoted says : " The only immigrants of advantage to a colony 
are strong young men full of courage and j)atience; the 
English enquiries have proven that under sixteen and over 
forty, immigration is rather a tax upon tlian a resource for 
colonies."* Although it may not be a question here of me- 
tropolis and colony, we maintain fully the opinion which 
we have just quoted. What is wanted in Costa Rica is 
3'oung men, or grown men, so long as they do not pass a 
certain age ; but they must be strong, full of courage and of 
patience. A common enough error among emigrants is the 
belief that life will be easier for them in every way in coun- 
tries beyond the sea. We do not hesitate to say that it is 
often harder at the outset. America offers this advantage, 
that the toil is more fruitful, more remunerative, and that, 
the first difficulties overcome, ease is more Si3eedil3'- obtain- 
able. But it is not obtained without exertion ; strength is 
necessary, and courage and perseverance. 

Yet another thing is necessary. The feeble individual, 
the cow^ard, or the unsteady man will not make his living ; 
he who can do nothing wdll not succeed. Costa Rica is a 
new country, but it is also a country which is progressing 
constantly. It is required of the foreigner not only that he 
work luell, but that he worh better than the native. He is 
made to repay the hospitality which is generously accorded 
him, in lessons. If he be a good artisan, good farmer, or 
good manufacturer, his merit will be promptly recognized ; 
if he work badly, or even but ordinarily, they wall turn 
away from him, and not without reason. It is w-ell, more- 
over, to have more than one string to one's bow. In a coun- 



* P. Leroy-Beaulieu, work mentioned, p. 481. 



THE FUTURE. 95 

try where labor is scarce, one is sometimes obliged to turn 
his hand to anything. No one can really count on other 
than his own intelligence and powers. 

Despite all advantages which may be offered him, the im- 
migrant should not arrive absolutely without resources. 
Whatever may be the work that he has in view, he will 
naturally stand in need of funds for establishing himself. 
He will require these also while waiting for his first earn- 
ings, if he does not wish to be dependent on others or to begin 
by contracting debts which it will take him a long while to 
get free of In any event, a small capital will assure him 
independence ; the entire lack of personal resources will pre- 
vent him from gaining this for a long time. 

The best immigration, then, does not include the feeble, 
the utterly poverty-stricken. Such will not succeed in Costa 
Rica. The strong, the persevering, the skillful — those who 
possess some resources — have their future there assured. 
Above all, are required good agriculturists, artisans good at 
their trades, and industrial workmen capable of themselves of 
undertaking the thousand little productive industries which 
are yet lacking in the country. 

Countries which have called for immigration have always 
taken measures to aid the immigrants. Costa Rica does 
not intend to be behind the others in this respect. In proof 
of the assistance we may cite the following fact : At the 
close of the year 1888, over a thousand Italians, engaged at 
work on the line of railroad in construction, abandoned 
work and demanded to be returned to their own country.* 
Desirous of retaining a part, at least, of this immigration 

* It is not for us to judge of the difierences between the railroad company 
and the Italians who had been engaged for the works. We may say, how- 
ever, that no one of them had the slightest occasion for complaint in regard 
to the people of Costa Kica, who succored and harbored them for many 
weeks with a kindness worthy of praise. Various European journals pub- 
lished correspondence casting the entire blame of the laborers' misfortunes 

the sad consequence of their abandoning work — upon the country. As 
ocular witness of the occurrences, we believe it our duty to formally deny 
these untruthful stories, which prove only the ingratitude of their authors. 



96 COSTA RICA. 

already on the spot, the government immediately offered to 
all tlie Italians who should desire it to bear the expense of 
bringing out their families for them. Some of them accepted 
the offer, and are to-day permanently located in Costa Rica. 
The great majority, however, preferred to regain their old 
homes by means of an arrangement made with a maritime 
agency. The decision of the government respecting the 
Italian families may be taken anew with regard to other 
immigrants. We believe that we ma}^ even affirm that a 
considerable amount on the budget will be promptly ap- 
portioned for the encouragement of immigration, either in 
paying the immigrants' passage or in assuring them of im- 
mediate means of subsistence on their arrival in the country. 
In any case, information will be easily obtained. Costa 
Rica has consuls in the principal cities of Europe and the 
United States. They will furnish to all who require them 
desirable explanations, and will transmit willingly to their 
government propositions made by persons desiring to leave 
their fatherland. The consul general residing in Paris will 
specially undertake to answer questions, and it is to him 
that such should be addressed, above all.* We ourselves are 
at the disposition of all those who may desire minute par- 
ticulars on points which may specially interest them. We 
should be very happy if that which we have stated frankly 
and without exaggeration of any sort, may be found useful 
to those who are seeking a new country. 

*Address Mr. C. Palacios, consul of Costa Rica, Rue des Petites Ecuries, 
Paris. 



COSTA RICA 



AND 



HER FUTURE 



BY 



PAUL BIOLLEY, 

Bachelor' of Lettej's, Professor hi the College of San Jose, Costa Rica, 

Corresponding Alember of the Society of Natural Sciences 

of NeucJidtel, Switzerland, and of the JSleuchdtel 

Geographical Society, Etc., Etc. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH 

BY 
CECIL CHARLES. 



Study accompanied by a map, in colors, draiun by F. Montesdeoca. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 

JUDD & DETWEILKK, PRINTERS. 

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